STRiDE (Strengthening responses to dementia in developing countries) is a four-year project to build capacity in dementia research in seven developing countries.
The project is examining current practice, both at a national level and for individual families, both to help people with dementia to live well, and to ensure that family and other carers do not face excessive costs that could impoverish them or compromise their own health. A core activity is to understand the impacts of dementia in various cultural, social and economic contexts in order to support development, financing, planning, implementation and evaluation of national dementia plans.
The research is led by the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at the LSE, in partnership with the Universities of Sussex and Cape Town, Alzheimer’s Disease International and Dementia Alliance International. In each of the seven countries the national Alzheimer association is working with an academic research partner.
Funding is from UK Research and Innovation through its Global Challenges Research Fund.
There are ten work packages in the project:
- WP1. Theory of Change workshops to co-develop the research and training agenda for STRiDE across and within countries
- WP2. Research training programme addressing researcher capacity building skill requirements for developing dementia research
and evidence - WP3. Developing a Toolkit to increase dementia awareness and reduce stigma among healthcare professionals and community members (all seven countries). Evaluation of the
toolkit in Brazil and Kenya - WP4. Qualitative study to better understand costs of providing unpaid family care to people with dementia in India, Jamaica
and Mexico - WP5. Survey to estimate prevalence of dementia, co-morbidities and other health-related information and collect quantitative data on care, treatment, support and outcomes for people
living with dementia and carers in Indonesia and South Africa - WP6. Development of an international “Dementia Evidence Toolkit” (what works in the care, treatment and support of people with dementia and their carers in low and middle income countries), plain language evidence summaries (multiple languages) and a decision tool
- WP7. Situational analysis to assess the current dementia care, treatment and support situation, as compared to the expectations and needs of the country
- Cost of dementia study
- Simulation model of future demand for dementia care, treatment and support, estimating implications of demographic change and potential impact, in terms of costs and outcomes, of implementing evidence-based care pathways
- Assessment of the financing, workforce and organisational requirements needed to deliver the levels of evidence-based care, treatment and support that the country aspires to provide to people with dementia and their carers
- WP8. Recommendations for National Dementia Plans
- WP9. Project management
- WP10. Knowledge exchange, impact and engagement