INDEED Project was presented on Friday, February 21st at the 10th edition of the National Alzheimer's Conference in Romania, which enjoyed an international participation.

As in previous years, the event enjoyed the presence of well-known speakers who presented the results of recent research in the fields of neuroscience, neuroimaging, clinical psychiatry and neuropsychology. Therapeutic and care strategies in neurodegenerative disorders were also addressed.

In parallel, there were courses, workshops and seminars addressed to the sufferers and to the families, respectively to the people involved in their care.

The complete program of the event can be consulted on the event's website.

The presentation of the project insisted on the communication workpackage (WP2) for which the Romanian Alzheimer's Society is responsible. On this occasion, the Romanian INDEED Project trailer was launched for the fist time. 

Below you can read the abstract of the scientific communication.

THE INDEED_DANUBE INTERREG PROJECT in 2020. 20 MONTHS OF COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES

Zamfir (Grigorescu) Mihaela (1),  Moglan Maria (2), Sfetcu Raluca (3), Tudose Cătălina (4)

(1) Psych. PhD, Vice-President of Romanian Alzheimer Society, Bucharest, Romania;

(2) Lecturer PhD Arch., Department „Synthesis of Architectural Design”, Faculty of Architecture, „Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania; Member Romanian Alzheimer Society;

(3) Assoc. Prof. PhD. Psych., Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, "Spiru Haret" University, Bucharest, Romania; Member Romanian Alzheimer Society;

(4) Prof. PhD. Md., President Romanian Association of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and President of Romanian Alzheimer Society, Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.

OBJECTIVE: The rising trend of aging population and consequently the increase in the number of people with dementia are the challenges from which the INDEED_Danube Interreg project was born. The quality of care of dementia in the Danube Region is behind the European standards regarding the knowledge, skills and cooperation of professionals involved in caring older people with dementia, the availability of specific services and the use of assistive technologies. Another challenge is the emigration of health professionals. The INDEED project aims to contribute to the improvement of the dementia care system in the Danube Region and to the implementation of national strategies for dementia in order to increase the quality of life of people with dementia and family caregivers. This paper will highlight the role of the Romanian Alzheimer's Society (RAS) in the project at the beginning of 2020, in the 20 months of activity so far.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The consortium comprises 10 project partners and 10 associated strategic partners from 6 upstream countries (AT, CZ, DE, SI, SK) and 4 downstream countries (BA, BG, HU, RO). INDEED Project is organized on 8 work packages (WP0-WP7) and aims to develop three educational modules: CAMPUS- institutions involved in dementia care, this module provides shared learning and facilitates changes; CONNECT- with embedded principles of dementia case management including horizontal / vertical integration of services; COACH- a business consultancy service for social entrepreneurs, service providers and start-ups. The three modules will be elaborated in traditional (presentations, seminars, printed documents) and internet-based formats (e-learning programmes, webinars) and evaluated in pilot actions at selected sites. In collaboration with decision makers from ministries and public ad-ministrations the modules will be adjusted to practical and local needs. In this research we will present the RAS actions within the 20 months of activity.

EXPECTED RESULTS: In the 20 months since the project is in progress, the RAS (leader pack WP2- communication) activities have shown their results in the Danube region where the project is developed. The proposed objectives for publicizing the project were reached and even exceeded. At the date of 10.02.2020 we have the following parameters on the communication channels: the official website of the project website- http://dtp.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/indeed with constant posts in the section of "News and events" at least 2/month, 106 subscribers to the INDEED Newsletter│Facebook: 510 Likes │Instagram: 38 posts, 72 followers, 165 pages following │YouTube: 4 movies posted, INDEED trailers in English - 217 views, Slovenian - 86 views, Bulgarian - 41 views, Slovak - 36 views │Twitter: 9 followers, 32 pages following). All the deliverables proposed so far have been completed: Period 1- Communication Plan, Media Kit and IT FactSheet, Period 2- Brochure, Flyer, Policy Brief. We are running with Period 3, with the realization of the trailer in Romanian for the YoutTube Indeed Project channel. The target groups were made aware of the importance of improving dementia care in the Danube Region and will contribute to the implementation of national dementia strategies.

 CONCLUSIONS: The results of the 20 months of activity within the INDEED Project contribute to increasing the quality of life of older persons with dementia in the Danube Region.

Keywords: INDEED Project, Romanian Alzheimer Society (RAS), communication, dementia-friendly, quality of life, Danube Region, interdisciplinarity