Advocacy campaign for proposal, adoption and dissemination of a Concept for specialised Day care center and other related services in the community for people with Alzheimer''s disease and other forms of Dementia

Description

The project aims at developing a concept for a specialized daycare centre for people with Alzheimer’s  and other forms of dementia as well as the relevant  accompanying community services as a contribution to the implementation of the National Strategy for Long-term Care and the relevant Action Plan for 2018-2021. The organization plans to carry out an advocacy campaign to promote, offer and adopt the concept as part of the measures and actions for people living with dementia. The concept of the specialized daycare centre will include main social initiatives such as Alzheimer’s cafe for patients and their families and other community initiatives with the intention to improve the quality of life such as assistance with the use of services in shops, banks, financial services, etc.  The concept of the daycare centre will also include health services integrated in social ones aiming to provide early diagnostics and measure the degree and progress of the disease with the help of neurologists, gerontologists, general practitioners. The project is targeted at decision-makers and public institutions, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and the users will be people with Alzheimer’s, dementia and similar diseases and their families. The project will be also implemented against the backdrop of the delayed reform of the social system, including the legal framework. It is urgent to make changes to the care provided to such people. The project was prompted by the events taking place in residential care homes as of early 2020, as noted by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Summary of project results

The project aimed to develop a Concept for a specialized Day Care Center for people with Alzheimer''s disease and other forms of dementia, along with accompanying services in the community, as a contribution to the implementation of the National Long-Term Care Strategy and the related Action Plan for the period 2018-2021.  The standards developed within the Concept for the Day Care Center for People with Alzheimer''s disease and other forms of Dementia were disseminated to more than 200 representatives of institutions, local and national authorities, Nursing homes for elderly and people with dementia and families caring for people with dementia. Two information workshops with institutions, two seminars and a press-conference were held. The Project Promoter participated in a meeting of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Demography and in a meeting with the Chairman of the Health Committee of the National Assembly, where the issue of the need for a National Dementia Strategy and Action Plan was raised at the parliamentary level. The project meetings were also attended by people with dementia and their families, and this gave them the opportunity to share their problems and needs and to be heard by people in decision-making positions and by the wider public.  The concept will serve as a basis for the preparation of amendments of the Strategy for Long-Term Care.