The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has launched the ‘30 days, 30 gestures’ campaign to mark World Alzheimer’s Day.
On the occasion of World Alzheimer’s Day, which is commemorated on 21 September, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has launched an awareness campaign to bring the reality of this neurodegenerative disease closer to society, as its incidence is increasing worldwide. According to data from the World Alzheimer’s Report, there are 50 million people affected by this disease worldwide and more than 1 million in Spain, a figure that, according to estimates, will continue to increase until it triples by 2050.
The campaign is entitled ‘30 days, 30 gestures’ and has been developed by the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services (Imserso) for this September to promote a model of care focused on people affected by Alzheimer’s, as well as promoting their autonomy and active life and disseminating the knowledge and innovation that exists about this disease.
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Social Rights launches an Alzheimer’s awareness campaign to mark World Alzheimer’s Day
The Imserso is actively working on Alzheimer’s through the State Reference Centre (CRE) on this disease, located in Salamanca. This is a centre specialising in research with non-pharmacological therapies aimed at people affected by Alzheimer’s disease. In the words of Enrique Pérez, head of the Research Area of this centre, the work of this institution is to find therapies that, based on scientific evidence, can slow down this disease ‘as far as possible’ and improve care for those affected and their families. On the other hand, Imserso highlights that, during the year 2024, the CRE Alzheimer has launched two studies on the effectiveness of interventions related to cognitive stimulation and robotherapy. It also highlights the incidence of this disease in women, who represent approximately 70% of people affected by this disease, based on data provided by Ceafa in 2021 within the ‘Census of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias in Spain’.
World Alzheimer’s Day was established 30 years ago by the World Health Organization (WHO) and sponsored by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). To commemorate the day, organisations around the world take part in awareness-raising, support and sensitisation events to provide information about the disease to the public and call for more support for those most affected in their communities, as dementia caused by Alzheimer’s is currently the seventh leading cause of death globally.
In this respect, the Imserso has set up different activities such as the conference ‘Designing spaces for people with Alzheimer’s’, which has provided information on the possibilities of adapting living environments through architecture. Likewise, activities have been carried out supported by video games or cinema, with the screening of the film ‘Mientras sea tú’, which won the Goya award for Best Documentary in 2024.