The Salzburg Statement on Innovations in Dementia Care and Dementia-Friendly Communities was published on World Alzheimer’s Day 2018, garnering endorsements from health care professionals, patient advocates and academics across five continents.
After meeting at Changing Minds: Innovations in Dementia Care and Dementia-Friendly Communities, four Fellows from the UK and Canada secured a grant of over $6,000,000 to explore new forms of dementia support. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research, their research will focus on effective support for those living with rare forms of dementia, especially in rural communities.
Connections made through Sciana: The Health Leaders Network led to a new approach in community health care being introduced in Wales, UK. The Buurtzorg Model, which empowers nurses in the community to build care around the patient, had already been adopted by Sciana members in Switzerland.
Our Sciana Health Leaders Network, led by its Chair, global health leader Ilona Kickbusch, has continued to convene online, bringing together current members with those from earlier cohorts, sharing cross-border and cross-sectoral experience and insights responding to the Covid 19 pandemic. For instance, we had Sciana members from Public Health England, the Swiss Office of Public Health, and the WHO European Observatory in dialogue with Frederik Kristensen, Deputy President of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, to be better prepared for Covid vaccine roll-out when it comes. This is a learning community very much working in real time.
Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Salzburg Global Fellows, who came together at three sessions over the last two years, have been completing a major publishing project, Building Healthy Communities, in collaboration with the BMJ – the British Medical Journal, which has one of the largest global footprints on health issues. Salzburg Global Fellows who have been authors have been joined by those with crucial professional and life experience who have never before been published. So this has introduced new voices to the health community around the globe, voices urging the equitable creation of health across all our communities rather than an over-reliance on reactive healthcare.
Salzburg Global Fellows planned a series of projects, at a session on childhood obesity in December 2019, which they are now rolling out despite the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic, again supported with seed funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Projects include one working through publication and advocacy to reframe the narrative around childhood obesity as the development of an equitable nurturing care approach from preconception to age 5. Another is working with the World Obesity Federation on a policy brief, infographics, videos, podcasts, and advocacy at the World Obesity Forum to 'storify' academic research, raise consciousness and better inform policy-making. A third is creating an international network where cities can exchange learning, develop and share knowledge, and jointly advocate for systemic change and a healthier environment. And there will be more to come.
If you have an impact story to share on how taking part in the Salzburg Global Seminar series Health and Health Care Innovation, contact Salzburg Global Program Director Mary Helen Pombo
