Healthy aging and dementia - better life

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Europe faces the enormous challenge of providing an optimal quality of life to its aging citizens. This challenge must be tackled in a sustainable and efficient way. The high prevalence of cognitive illnesses, dementia is a key challenge. Dementia is one of the most common mental illnesses which are not curable yet. In the EU as a whole life expectancy at age 65 is projected to increase by 6.1 years for males and by 6.6 years for females over the projection period 2015-2080. As a consequence of population ageing, prevalence and incidence projections indicate that the number of people with dementia will continue to grow. The total number of people with dementia worldwide in 2010 is estimated at 35.6 million and is projected to nearly double every 20 years, to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. Therefore, It is very important to make necessary steps for implementing preventive measures to slow down the incidence of dementia as well as to improve the quality of life of existing patients. The overall objective of the project is "Improving the Quality of Life for dementia patients in the cross-border area". Specific goals are: increasing the capacity of hospital in Vrsac, identification of major risk factors for dementia in border region, and reducing the stigmatisation and social exclusion risk of dementia patients. The main output of the project will be construction of residential facility dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with dementia. A garden which will be specially built to provide a safe space for people with dementia to go outdoors, to enjoy nature, socialise or other external activities is new therapeutical approach in Serbia, contributing to their health and wellbeing. This will create the conditions for more efficient treatment of dementia and on this way significantly improve the lives of patients and their families. The need for cooperation stems from the traditional connectedness of the area - similar socio-economic situation, geographic location, lifestyle of inhabitants of the border region causes similar medical problems, but lacks more cooperation due to the border. In order to do preventive, delaying the onset of dementia, it will be conducted a cross-border research by targeting the risk factors. A dementia and cognitive impairment population study in both region will through comparative analysis of risk factors data gathered, yield significant results. One is to determine the actual regional situation with respect to dementia with all preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic implications for the design and planning of health action. Another is, to contribute to the international knowledge on the effect of risk factors linked to lifestyle on the development and evolution of dementia. Information added on 2020-05-12, regarding the mitigation of the effects of COVID-19 (the corona virus pandemic that started in 2019) (English language only): Specific goals of the project are increasing the capacity of the hospital in Vrsac, identification of major risk factors for dementia in border region and reducing the stigmatisation and social exclusion risk of dementia patients. The main outputs of the project will be construction of dementia Health Care Center and equipping of Health Care Center in Resita.

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