The European project JADE Health – Joint Action addressing Dementia and Health, held the kick-off meeting of the project on 12-13 February 2025.?Project partners from 17 countries, 22 Affiliated Entities (AE) and 8 Associated partners (AP) as well as major stakeholders gathered in Merida, Spain.
The event was organised by the Fundación Para La Formación e Investigación de los Profesionales de la Salud de Extremadura?(FUNDESALUD), the coordinator of the project.
First day of the kick-off meeting
Relevant speakers participated on the first day of the kick-off meeting of JADE Health. Antonio Parenti- Director for Public Health, Cancer and Human Security in the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission (DG Sante), gave a speech about the perspective of DG SANTE in the field of dementia. Corinne Salinas, HaDEA Project Officer, gave a presentation to clarify project management issues and highlight the importance of disseminating the results and giving visibility to the European Commission funding. Both stressed the importance of searching for synergies with other European initiatives and funded projects to optimize the resources and activities of all the projects.
Additionally, Ana Díaz from the Alzheimer Europe organization, presented the activities that they are carrying out to reduce the burden of Alzheimer, create individualized strategies and combat stigma. Teun Toebes, from the foundation Human Frontier, explained how activism can contribute to reducing the burden of dementia and to developing new existing Care Models. Furthermore, other European projects contributed to the kick-off meeting of JADE Health, such as the Joint Action in Mental Health MENTOR-Mental health together, and the Action Grant CARE4Elders – Developing innovative practices for tackling dementia and reducing stigma.
Finally, some work package leaders explained the activities that will be carried out during the project. Bernardino Morillo and Ainhoa Gonzálvez, from Fundesalud in Spain, and coordinators of the project and leaders of work package 1, explained the rules that will be followed fro a proper technical and financial management of the project. Inés Rey from FICYT in Spain, as work package 2 leaders presented the webpage, the social networks of the project and guidelines to optimize dissemination and communication during the project and beyond. Karmen Korda from the National Institute of Health of Croatia (CIPH), as work package 3 leader, explained how the evaluation and monitoring of the project would be carried out. And, Becze Orsoloya and Tóth Dóra from the National Healthcare Service Center of Hungary (OKFO), as work package 4 leaders, showed how the sustainability plan will be developed.
Second day of the kick-off meeting
During the second day of the kick-off meeting, other important speakers participated. Ledia Lazeri from the World Health Organisation, gave a speech on the main activities that WHO is carrying out in the field of dementia. She explained some key existing initiatives and resources, such as the Global action plan on the public health response to dementia (2017-2025) and its principles. Also, the programme iSupport for Dementia, which is a self-help skills and training programme for carers of people with dementia; the Guidance for person-centred assessment and pathways in primary care; and the Global Dementia Observatory. Ledia also announced that WHO is working on the second European Programme of Work (2025-2030).
Alexander Rommel from the Robert Koch-Institut in Germany, as work package 5 co-leaders, explained the main activities that will be carried out to analyse information on the epidemiology of neurodegenerative disease and population-based health literacy. Alexandre Dimitrov and Ivo Popivanov from the Bulgarian Society of Dementia (BDS), as work package 6 leaders, explained who they will contribute to improve early detection of signs and symptoms of neurocognitive disorders in European projects. Guido Bellomo from the National Institute of Health of Italy (ISS), as work package 7 leaders, indicated the activities that will be developed to define a framework for dementia and stroke prevention in the JADE Health countries. Jurate Macijauskiene and Ida Liseckiene from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), as leaders of work package 8, addressed to develop country-specificy recommendations for service development regarding clinical integrated pathways for people with dementia and neurodenerative diseases across Europe. Sonja Hansen from Aarhus Kommune (AAKS) in Denmark, Nadia Blecha from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and Magdalena Ku?ma-Kozakiewicz from the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW) in Poland, as work package 9 leader and co-leader, commented on the activities that will be developed to identify unmet needs in best practices of emerging European new care models. Bernardino Morillo and Elisabeth García from Fundesalud in Spain, and Tatjana Krajnc-Nikoli? from the National Institute of Public Health of Slovenia, as work package 10 leader and co-leader, indicated how they will work in developing strategies to support the needs of vulnerable groups of patients with dementia, caregivers and relatives and help reduce stigma.
Conclusions
Significant progress has been made and the 44 pilot actions to be carried out during the project have been discussed.
115 representatives of 17 European projects and 6 EU projects and initiatives joined to the kick-off meeting of JADE Health!!!.
The kick-off meeting provided a unique opportunity to deep dive in the challenges, main goals and key components of the project, aligning with the European Commission’s ‘Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health 2023‘. Additionally, the event facilitated the establishment of a common vision among project partners, focusing on the selection of best practices and care models for adaptation, while also outlining the next steps for work package tasks.
