Objective: In the year 2001, the Ministry of Health started to develop a national plan of health. Within its core, the mental health of our citizens was contemplated, and it became clear that as a national priority the health of the elderly and particularly the need to develop public policy related to the dementing illnesses was urgently needed. A national advisory team that could promote a plan for tackling this problem was created. I was asked to develop the team structure and within 6 months produce with my 6-member-team a national plan for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders that could be working within the next year and a half.
There are within the plan 4 major areas:
A. Service delivery: This chapter refers to all the measures needed to promote quality and presence in our services, especially at primary care levels, promoting integral management of patients with intellectual decline and their families. We need to create services for each community for prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and respite, basically at primary care level, with support of secondary units for more precise diagnosis and cases with special needs. At the same time, an urgent need to promote social services to assist the families in need, with help and feedback from non governmental agencies like Alzheimer support groups and associations.
B. Health Education: Health education within the program includes all aspects related to the improvement of health preventive measures when applicable to the dementing illnesses. They include means to tackle poverty, social inequality and education. In the specific area of education per se, the following are clear objectives of the plan:
1. Promote changes in the curriculum in the educational programs that would include dementias in the medical faculties and postgraduate training programs in medicine, program changes in psychology, and nursing and social workers training programs.
2. Promote the development of a diploma in intellectual decline and dementias as a formal 2-year course for medical and paramedical personnel.
3. BPSD training packages for nurses, primary care physicians, and families.
4. Public awareness programs.
For the educational programs we are attempting to use novel educational systems via the Internet and train the trainer educational packages.
C. Research: Our program is aware that without formal research no public policy can be established. With very limited resources in our country, we must find means to optimize the economical resources and establish guidelines and needs for specific areas urgently needed to support policy changes in the area of the dementing disorders.
D. Legislation: To be able to consolidate the National Plan for Dementias, there is an urgent need to take into consideration the changes needed to promote patient’s and health provider’s rights.
I am aware that the plan we have produced has to have short and long term objectives, and we know that results will not be seen in the next few years.
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