STRiDE - Dementia prevalence, costs and impact in seven developing countries: A STRiDE project

Dementia has an enourmous impact on patients and their family, whose needs are often unmet. The impact of dementia, including the associated costs and risk of impoverishment is greatest in less resourced settings, particularly those experiencing more marked and faster demographic aging. The STRiDE Project aims to contribute to strenghtening health systems, and improving their response to the needs of people with dementia, their family, and the community in which they live.., STRiDE’s objectives are to: 1) build capacity in generating and using research evidence and tools to support policies for improvement of dementia care, treatment and support; 2) increasing research evidence on what works in dementia care and support in middle-income countries; and 3) improving understanding of the impacts of dementia in various contexts to help countries develop appropriate responses. STRiDE embraces the WHO public health approach to dementia. The project seeks to assist countries to develop or refine national plans for dementia, as a preamble for concerted actions. STRiDE is an international, multi-site study articulated across seven Work Packages (WP) in seven middle-income countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Jamaica, Mexico and South Africa. Our team at the Institute of Public Health at USI (led by Prof. Emiliano Albanese at USI) is a partner in WP5 (led by Prof. Sube Banerjee at the University of Plymouth). WP5 aims to generate new data about the prevalence and impact of dementia in countries where evidence is extremely limited or inexistent. Data collection will start soon in two countries (South Africa and Indonesia). At the IPH in Lugano we provide expertise in data collection and analysis, including for the 1066 dementia diagnostic algoritm at the core of the study protocol. The STRiDE project is funded by the Research Council’s UK Global Challenges Research Unit, and is led by Prof. Martin Knapp and Dr. Adelina Comas, at the London School of Economics.