Funded by the Atlantic Philantropies and supported by the Department of Health, Creating Excellence in Dementia Care: A Research Reivew for Ireland’s National Dementia Stratergy presents key findings emerging from a research review conducted to inform the development of Ireland’s future National Dementia Strategy.
Adopting a three pronged multidisciplinary research approach the programme is organised in three specific and interlinked work packages relating to Amyotrophic Lateral Scerosis, spanning clinical, epidemiological and health services research including health economics. The research aims to generate a framework for optimal management of ALS and explore its relevance for other neurological conditions.
NEIL is an umbrella programme, comprised of several large-scale research initiatives that look for new ways to enhance cognitive function in older adults and to delay or prevent dementia in at risk populations. Research projects include RelAte: A relationship-based mealtime intervention for older adults living alone, CST, the development of a Caregiver Support Tool and the development of a range of educational resources for academics, health practitioners and members of the general public.
The Dublin Brain Bank is a collaboration between the Neuropathology Department of Beaumont Hospital and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. It aims to facilitate an archive of brain tissue, which will help clinical and neuroscience researchers uncover potential cures for neurological diseases.
The Dementia Services Information and Development Centre (DSIDC) is a National Centre for excellence in dementia. It provides educational courses and training days to staff providing services to people with dementia in many different care settings around the country. Their research activities focus on the development of timely, responsive and accessible interventions for people with dementia.
This research aims to identify patients with FTD, to collect blood samples for genetic studies, perform brain imaging using MRI and collect brain wave data using EEG. It is anticipated that analysis of this data and the establishment of an FTD patient database will led to a better understand of FTD with the ultimate goal of developing new and improved treatment strategies.
In 2013, the Irish National Audit of Dementia audited 35 acute hospitals in the Republic of Ireland, interviewing the senior hospital managers and geriatricians; directly observing the environment/ interviewing the clinical nurse manager of 77 wards, and reviewing 660 healthcare records of people with dementia who had been admitted to the hospitals.
SOPHIA is a consortium of 17 ALS centres in Europe. The consortium aim to develop a common strategy for the prioritization and harmonization of biomarkers for ALS and neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, it aims to validate neurochemical biomarkers for monitoring disease activity, for generating earlier diagnoses and for defining prognosis.
As part of the BIOMARKPD initiative the Irish Network for Biomarkers in Neurodegeneration (IN-BIND) was established. It is a research infrastructure aimed at creating a functional network for clinical and laboratory based scientists working in this area. Similar to BIOMARKPD, the aims of IN-BIND are the standardisation of biomarker measurement across Ireland and Europe to include i) sample collection, ii) measurement, iii) and interpretation.
BIOMARKAPD is a multi-national research project comprising 51 sites in 21 countries, including Ireland. This JPND (Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Diseases) funded collaborative research project aims to develop optimally informative biomarkers for AD and PD and the harmonisation of their use. The Irish strand of BIOMARKPD aims to; standardise biomarker measurement and interpretation nationally; develop and make available a CSF test for ND biomarkers in AD and PD; Establish and sustain a registry of ND; and bring clarity to biomarker interpretation to support diagnosis.