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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Dement.
Sec. Aging and Risk Factors for Dementia
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1463837

Examining the prevention approach in National Dementia Plans from European and North American countries

Provisionally accepted
Mattia Andreoletti Mattia Andreoletti *Alessandro Blasimme Alessandro Blasimme
  • ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of National Dementia Plans (NDPs) from selected European and North American countries, focusing on the distinct prevention strategies outlined and the approaches employed for reducing dementia risk. Method: The sample consisted of 16 NDPs from Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA. These NDPs were retrieved from the Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) database, with regular updates checked on official governmental websites. A qualitative analysis was conducted to identify common themes related to the vision, goals, and corresponding actions and measures within these strategies. Results: Our analysis revealed that dementia prevention is a strategic goal for most of the countries studied. Common actions identified include the identification of risk factors, advancing research, promoting healthy aging, increasing public awareness, and encouraging lifestyle interventions. Conclusion: We discuss the limitations and challenges of these actions, and more broadly, of the NDPs in relation to the recent literature on the most effective approaches to preventing dementia. We suggest adopting a more "horizontal" approach to dementia prevention, which current NDPs overlook in favor of "vertical" paradigms.

    Keywords: Dementia, dementia prevention, National Dementia Strategy, Alzheime´s Disease, prevention

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Andreoletti and Blasimme. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mattia Andreoletti, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.