Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders
Thanks to the ITC Conference Grant of PROGRAMMING Cost project, I had the chance to participate in the 34th Alzheimer Europe Conference “New horizons – Innovating for Dementia” which took place at the Centre International de Conférences Genève, between 8 and 10 October 2024, attracting 963 delegates from 42 European countries. On the agenda were over 400 presenters, sharing their research, knowledge, and experience in an atmosphere of true collaboration and solidarity. The program focused on many different topics like making dementia a priority, innovation in dementia care, intersectionality in dementia and brain health and prevention. It brought together all types of people who are affected by dementia – living with the disease, caring for someone with the disease, or working in the field of aging and dementia. Many professionals shared their research, projects, activities, and experiences on educational programs, interventions, and basic care principles for older people. That was a chance for me to learn new approaches and have new ideas for future research. During the conference breaks and social events, many discussions on how to develop and provide appropriate programs and interventions for these people were followed by colleagues worldwide. I had also the opportunity to discuss how we can facilitate changes at the national level towards a substantial integration of geriatric medicine and issues in the attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals with researchers from Australia and the USA.
I participated in an oral presentation “An innovative online educational program on Neurodegenerative Genetic Counseling developed in Greece, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Turkey” as I am a Ph.D candidate in the School of Medicine at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki focus on genetic counseling for families of people with dementia. People in the audience asked questions and more information. They also get in contact with me to discuss further the main gaps and difficulties in the field of genetic counseling. In this discussion, many topics relevant to the goals of the PROGRAMMING project were discussed. This was a good opportunity for networking and dissemination of the aims of the PROGRAMMING project.
I believe that my participation in this conference and the ability to collaborate with colleagues from other countries where different interventions and programs are implemented allowed me to adopt good practices for people with dementia and families in Greece. I also feel that this participation strengthened my skills as a counselor and advocator in dementia issues and broadened my knowledge with a European outlook and perspective that will enable me to be a more effective researcher and to implement effective interventions in Greece. It was also a great opportunity to broaden my network and start to cooperate with other colleagues to submit new projects. Special thanks to the bursary sponsors, PROGRAMMING cost project, for providing me with a bursary, enabling my participation and presentation in this huge scientific event.