Project acronym: DEMENCA ( 349.951,26 EUR ERDF)
Lead Partner: Dom upokojencev Izola – Casa del pensionato Isola
Project Partners: Dom za starije i nemoćne osobe ”Atilio Gamboc” Umag, Obalni dom upokojencev Koper – Casa costiera del pensionato Capodistria, Grad Umag, Hrvatska udruga za Alzheimerovu bolest, Nacionalni inštitut za javno zdravje
Associated Partner: Ministrstvo za delo, družino, socialne zadeve in enake možnosti, Direktorat za socialne zadeve
Dementia is a growing health, social and economic issue. As the population ages, the number of dementia patients is expected to increase, while the manner of implementing social assistance services (SAS) is not adapted to their needs. Optimising SAS for dementia patients, destigmatising the disease and preventing social exclusion is thus a joint challenge.
The main goal is to “improve the quality of life of dementia patients in the cross-border area”, while the specific goals are:
– establishing permanent cross-border structures for long-term cooperation in increasing dementia patients’ quality of life
– improving the knowledge and competence level of people who influence dementia patients’ quality of life through SAS and the creation of a living environment,
– reducing the stigmatisation and social exclusion risk of dementia patients.
The project will yield trained personnel, cooperation within Working Groups, improved competences of planners who affect the creation of the living environment, the introduction of ICT in Home Help service, the newly-introduced Home Help in Umag, and the reduced stigmatisation of dementia. This will benefit dementia patients and their families as well as all professionals using developed materials and utensils who are involved in training, and institutions participating in Working Groups.
The approach is based on vertical and horizontal agreement. The need for cooperation stems from the traditional connectedness of the area, which lacks more cooperation on the institutional level due to the border. It is vital to standardise the SAS offer, the methods of recognising dementia symptoms, to ensure an easier inclusion of dementia patients into society, especially in using services in the cross-border area, and to strengthen the affiliation of stakeholders with joint events. It is innovative to exceed the “it-cannot-be-done” mentality and look for optimisations within the given framework.
