Dementia prevention units will be established in all nursing homes in the Vitebsk region

Dementia prevention departments will be opened in every inpatient social institution of the Vitebsk region by the end of 2016, as reported by Vera Astapenko, head of the department of social support for the population and inpatient institutions of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

"In June, we began implementing a project for dementia prevention among elderly citizens in the Vitebsk region. We are doing this in accordance with the cooperation agreement between our committee, the public association "Belarusian Gerontological Public Association" and the Moscow Research Medical Center "Gerontology". This is a new direction in our country. The very first institution where a dementia prevention department was opened was the Vitebsk boarding house for the elderly and disabled. Similar departments will be opened in all inpatient social institutions for this category by the end of the year," noted Vera Astapenko.

With the growth of the elderly population, the problem of senile dementia is becoming more relevant. To delay the progression of the disease, special measures and comprehensive care are necessary. Therefore, for prevention in inpatient institutions, a special environment with thematic design will be created, returning the elderly to the past and activating memory function. Methodological offices will also operate, utilizing advanced domestic and foreign experience. The training of specialists for such special preventive activities has already begun. More than one hundred people have completed a special course developed by scientists and specialists from the Vitebsk Medical University and the "Gerontology" center. These include heads of departments of social home care, day care centers for the elderly, and 24-hour care centers for the elderly and disabled, as well as entire teams of workers from boarding houses. The final seminar was held on June 24 in Vitebsk. And on July 4, 25 directors of territorial centers for social services for the population from all over the region will attend a training seminar. Thus, dementia prevention will be carried out not only in

in residential institutions, and in all areas of social service work. Every elderly person will be tested for signs of the disease to determine predisposition or, if the disease has already occurred, the stage of the disease. Based on this, a prevention model can be developed to slow down the manifestation of senile dementia.

Ekaterina Knyazeva - BELTA.