The National Congress of Geriatrics and Gerontology in Romania had as its central theme this year the intrinsic capacity of the elderly and active ageing. The Congress took place over 4 days, had 11 plenary sessions, 5 sessions of parallel scientific communications. Also, during the congress on October 17, 2019, the 5th edition of the National Symposium on Gerontopsychology was held.

The INDEED project was presented at the congress by Mihaela Zamfir, Communication Manager.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CARE OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA.

INDEED PROJECT _DANUBE INTERREG, 1 YEAR OF COMMUNICATION

Zamfir (Grigorescu) Mihaela, Moglan Maria, Sfetcu Raluca, Zamfir Mihai V, Tudose Cătălina, Pfäffel Lea, Kurz Alexander

Paper abstract (published in Romanian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics, ISSN-L 0254-2307)

Introduction: The aging of the population is also a challenge for the countries of the Danube Region. The quality of dementia care lags with European standards in terms of knowledge, skills and cooperation of professionals involved in assisting the elderly with dementia, the availability of specific services and the use of assistive technologies.

Objective: The INDEED project aims to improve the system of dementia care in the Danube Region and to contribute to the implementation of national strategies in the field of dementia in order to increase the quality of life of both people with dementia and family caregivers.

Materials and methods: The consortium comprises 10 project partners and 10 associated strategic partners from 6 upstream countries (AT, CZ, CR, DE, SI, SK) and 4 downstream countries (BA, BG, HU, RO). INDEED project aims to develop three educational modules: CAMPUS- offers interdisciplinary learning and facilitates exchanges; CONNECT- summarizes the principle of case management in dementia, including horizontal / vertical integration of services; COACH - a business consulting service for social entrepreneurs, service providers and start-ups. The three modules are structured both traditionally (presentations, seminars, printed documents) and online (e-learning programs, webinars) and will be evaluated in pilot actions on selected areas. In collaboration with the decision makers from the ministries and public administrations, the modules are adapted to the local needs. The present paper summarizes the results delivered for the first year within the communication work package (WP2) for which Romania is responsible through the Romanian Alzheimer Society: The Communication Plan, Media Kit, IT Fact Sheet, Newsletter no.1 (period 1) and Flyer, Brochure and Policy Brief (period 2).

Results: The communication activities showed their results in the region where the project is developed. The objectives proposed for the project's media coverage have been reached, at present we have the following indicators: 29 articles on the project website, INDEED Facebook Page-439 LIKE, Instagram- 32 posts, 64 followers, 149 pages watched, many dedicated events in partner countries. All the deliverables proposed for this period were completed. Within the project an article was published in Alzheimer's Europe "Dementia in Europe" Nr. 29 / February, 2019. The communication activities have proven to be effective in raising awareness among the target groups on the importance of improving dementia care in the Danube Region and contributing to the implementation of national strategies in the field of dementia.

Conclusions: The first year of communication activities within the INDEED Project proved to be a challenging one, the communication work was appreciated during the general meeting in Bratislava (June 2019) for the contribution to the bonding of the members of the transnational, transdisciplinary project team and to raise awareness of all target groups proposed in the Communication Plan.

Keywords: the INDEED project, dementia-friendly, communication activities, quality of life, Danube Region, transdisciplinarity

Aknowledgement: INDEED Project is a Transnational Program in the Danube Region, a program co-financed by the European Union funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI)

The project attracted the attention of the audience, mainly medical doctors from the specialty Geriatrics-Gerontology but also psychiatrists, medical rehabilitation, endocrinologists, cardiologists and from the specialty of internal medicine. Professor Gabriel-Ioan Prada, President of the Romanian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, welcomed the project, remarking positively on the interdisciplinarity of the project team, the 3 modules that are developed within the project, CAMPUS, CONNECT and COACH and the deliverables so far available on communication activities.