New York, NY, Dec. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), the organization leading an unprecedented global response to Alzheimer’s, today announced publication of a manuscript, titled “A framework for addressing Alzheimer's disease: Without a frame, the work has no aim.” The article, in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, describes a framework for collective action to implement and evaluate health system improvements for Alzheimer’s disease globally.
The framework described in the paper reconfigures common topics in national Alzheimer’s plans and international communiques, into ten discrete items upon which health systems may act to design operational improvements. The framework is purposely flexible for development of system-specific solutions that can be tailored to local priorities, culture, and workflow.
With the number of individuals living with Alzheimer’s projected to reach over 150 million by 2050, national health and financial systems require transformation to meet the needs of the global aging population. Without this transformation, individuals, who can most be helped by innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics and non-pharmacological interventions will not be diagnosed in time to receive the full benefit.
“When I kicked off the Global Action Against Dementia during my G8 Presidency in 2013, we had a vision of creating a worldwide collaboration to tackle the growing challenge of Alzheimer’s disease," said the Rt. Hon David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and President of Alzheimer’s Research UK. "The framework and programmes being launched by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative are critical to ensure collective global action for preparing health systems around the globe. Now, as President of Alzheimer’s Research UK, I look forward to working with Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and others to continue driving these vital collaborations forward. So together, we can move further and faster towards a cure.”
This article fills an essential gap in the Alzheimer’s response by building a common framework for evolving healthcare systems. DAC believes this will be a valuable resource to the Alzheimer’s community in their efforts to innovate, implement, and share solutions.
The framework developers included an assembly of Alzheimer’s experts convened to represent a geographically diverse workgroup including clinical practitioners, public health professionals, families with lived experience of Alzheimer’s, non-profits, and academic and industry thought leaders.
“As a super-aging society, Japan is honored to play a leadership role on Alzheimer’s disease transformation in the global community as well as a thought leadership role with key stakeholders and policy makers,” said Ryoji Noritake, CEO and board member, Health and Global Policy Institute and article co-author. “As part of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative System Preparedness initiative, Japan is deploying a two-fold effort - encouraging our healthcare systems toward early detection as well as engaging local pharmacies to offer cognitive testing.”
The paper contains three sections:
- Alzheimer’s System Framework: Identifies ten narrowly focused and actionable areas where health systems may target improvement programs.
- Implementation: Description of initial programs DAC is implementing related to early detection of cognitive impairment.
- Future Direction: The creation of a publicly available toolkit with documented study results and barriers/facilitators learned for sustainable healthcare system transformation. This is designed to guide future projects that health systems can tailor to local needs.
“The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative builds on previous efforts to assess the need for healthcare system transformation,” said Lori Frank, PhD, Senior Vice President for Research, Policy & Programs, New York Academy of Medicine and article co-author. “The globally inclusive approach that DAC advocates with its health system preparedness framework makes efficient use of scarce resources.”
The DAC healthcare system preparedness initiative is one of three work streams alongside a global cohort program for genetic and biomarker testing and the clinical trials development program. These three programs work in conjunction to advance innovation for Alzheimer’s patients worldwide.
“The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is pleased to provide this framework as a contribution to the field, and we hope that health systems and other organizations will utilize this framework to guide decisions regarding where to focus efforts, design and implement programs, and share learning globally,” said Tim MacLeod, PhD, Co-Director Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Health System Preparedness Initiative, and article co-author.
Currently the DAC healthcare system preparedness initiative has 19 programs launched in 12 countries focused on improving the early detection of cognitive impairment, a critical starting point. To learn more about early detection efforts among DAC grantees and pilot sites, sign-up for the DAC Learning Lab, and visit DavosAlzheimersCollaborative.org.
About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and healthcare infrastructures. Convened by The World Economic Forum and The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.
About DAC’s Healthcare System Preparedness Initiative
DAC’s Healthcare System Preparedness Initiative (DAC-SP) was developed to foster the implementation and evaluation of interventions in health systems, including heathy brain initiatives, improved detection and diagnosis and coordination of comprehensive dementia care. Initial DAC-SP projects have funded innovative approaches that measurably increase rates of cognitive screening, early detection, and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
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