On July 1, 2020, the Federal Cabinet adopted the National Dementia Strategy. It aims to help make Germany dementia-friendly. digiDEM Bayern also contributes to this with targeted care research and digital services.
In a joint statement, Federal Minister for Senior Citizens Dr. Franziska Giffey, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn, and Federal Minister of Research Anja Karliczek emphasized: „Germany is aging, and more and more people are suffering from dementia. Currently, there are 1.6 million, and by 2050, the number could be 2.8 million. We must prepare Germany for this, and we are doing so with the National Dementia Strategy.” The goal of the strategy is to make the country dementia-friendly through a broad alliance. It contains 27 goals and a total of approximately 160 measures, including health promotion for family caregivers, dementia research, greater awareness of dementia, and local networks.
Part of the Bavarian Dementia Strategy
The Bavarian Digital Dementia Register, or digiDEM Bayern for short, already supports the goal of a dementia-friendly society with a range of offerings that align with the federal government's new strategy. The research project by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, University Hospital Erlangen, and Medical Valley is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as part of the Bavarian Dementia Strategy. In 2013, Bavaria became one of the first states to create a political framework with the Bavarian Dementia Strategy to improve the care situation for people with dementia and their caregivers throughout Bavaria.
digiDEM Bavaria is active here with various offerings, including digital ones:
So the digiDEM researchers are currently building a Bavaria-wide „Dementia Register“ to better understand the course of the disease and to identify the care situation and possible gaps. To this end, people with dementia and their relatives will be interviewed in all seven administrative districts. Recently, the interviews started as planned within the scope of the pilot phase. digiDEM Bayern also enables virtual surveys. On the one hand, this protects the study participants, who are a particularly vulnerable group, as best as possible. On the other hand, the researchers are thus promoting digitalization in the Bavarian healthcare system – especially with regard to rural areas. With the dementia registry, digiDEM Bayern is making an important contribution Contribution to dementia research, which is also mentioned in the National Dementia Strategy. In parallel with the development of the dementia registry, digiDEM Bavaria supports the Building regional networks for health services research.
As a further measure of the National Dementia Strategy, the Health promotion for informal caregiverscalled, who often live on the brink of their limits as „Germany's largest care service.“ To raise awareness and provide support, digiDEM Bayern is developing Online risk traffic light for family caregivers. They are asked about various areas of life and receive recommendations to improve their personal situation depending on the result – green, yellow, or red. Digital services are also being developed for people with dementia, for example digital therapy options.
More attention for dementia is another demand of the National Dementia Strategy. digiDEM Bayern supports this through targeted science communication about the disease and its consequences. For example, a monthly Newsletter on current findings from dementia research. In addition, digiDEM Bayern offers free Webinars on the topic of dementia and conveys news also via Social Media.
More information:
Press Release from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research:
Cabinet Adopts National Dementia Strategy (01.07.2020)
