The new initiative will involve training hundreds of health professionals to carry out dementia research, deliver healthcare and change policies and practices around treatment of the disease.
There are approximately 50,000 people living with dementia in Ireland, a number which is projected to double every 20 years if there is no effective intervention.
This landmark grant — the largest program grant Atlantic has ever made — embodies the commitment of Atlantic and its founder, Charles “Chuck” Feeney, to address global challenges with big, bold initiatives that will serve society for generations to come.
The donation will fund a hugely ambitious project designed to “change the landscape” for people with dementia, starting with the establishment of a Global Brain Health Institute, housed at Trinity’s Institute of Neuroscience and UCSF’s Memory and Ageing Centre.
The Institute will run two programmes designed to train 600 global leaders or “agents of change” over 15 years in the US, Ireland and across the world to carry out dementia research, deliver health care, and change policies and practices.
The programmes include:
A two-year ‘Fellows’ programme where participants receive hands-on experience in diagnosis, treatmen,t and long-term management of patients with cognitive disorders, as well as elderly people who are at risk for brain health disorders. They will also learn how to help affected families and their caregivers. It will include doctors, nurses, psychologists, health economists, and policymakers. TCD and UCSF will each train four Fellows per year;
A one-year ‘Scholars’ programme for people from all types of environments. The two colleges will each train 16 Scholars per year.
“Our goal is to create a generation of leaders around the world who have the knowledge, skills and drive to change both the practice of dementia care and the public health and societal forces that affect brain health,” said Christopher G. Oechsli, president and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies. “By doing so, we hope to reduce dramatically the number of older people who develop this disease, which affects disproportionally those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and consumes not just the millions directly afflicted, but their families and caregivers as well.
“We have been working for several years in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to develop and implement their national strategies to combat dementia, and we are ready to extend and expand that successful effort.”
He added that the recipients of the grant “have the demonstrated capacity to launch a generation of multi-sectoral, cross-national thinkers, advocates and leaders who will revolutionize the environments, policies and systems that can foster healthy aging. They embody the experience, vision and capability to drive innovation and solutions for issues about which Atlantic has long cared and addressed, and about which the world must care more.”
Professor of psychology at Trinity College Dublin Ian Robertson and by Prof Brian Lawlor, who specialises in old-age psychiatry, will lead the team in Trinity.
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