The fourth Innovation Readiness Index lanched in collaboration with the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) evaluates the progress of 10 European countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom on how they are addressing Alzheimer’s disease. The countries are evaluated across five categories (Strategy & Commitment, Early Detection & Diagnosis, Access to Care (Medical), Awareness & Monitoring, and Care Standards & Settings), which are key in critically assessing their national performance of dementia innovation readiness. The Index is divided into two main sections. The first section of the report focuses on high level findings for each of the five categories, utilising insights gained from experts surveyed and interviewed across Europe.
The second half is comprised of detailed country profiles, including the Alzheimer’s disease landscape, as well as updates on country-specific performance across the five core categories. The aim of this information is to garner interest from relevant parties, who can potentially benefit by reviewing the progress of other countries against their own, as well as identifying best practises and areas which can be improved.
Though the majority of countries featured in this report are high-income countries that have progressed in developing national dementia plans, highlighting their efforts could help build momentum across other parts of the world.
Some key findings from the report include:
- COVID-19 has disrupted implementation, renewal, and funding of national plans
- Data consolidation is a large gap, with countries struggling to establish or develop systems to collect data across the care pathway
- European governments continue to underfund research on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
- Widespread variation within countries creates a postcode lottery in determining access to care
- Care pathways remain difficult to navigate for people living with dementia, caregivers, and healthcare professionals
- Informal caregivers continue to shoulder the brunt of caregiving responsibilities
- Most governments do not have sustained funding to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia