Methodical approach

This analysis draws on the prevention of dementia as a development project to obtain an overview of the status of policy and practice of the work in the Nordic region. The knowledge base for this report has been built through a descriptive analysis extracting, systematising, and presenting data from literature and documents, individual interviews, and information and discussion from a reference group without further interpretation or abstraction. The data collection is described in the subsections below. 

Table 2. Model of the descriptive approach.

We conducted literature searches of Google Scholar and PubMed to get an overview of grey literature and recent research. We also visited key websites and gained input from the reference group and support from the Nordic Welfare Centre. Two large literature searches were done in September 2023, and updated in March 2024, in the PubMed database and Google Scholar. We conducted one search of the Nordic regions in PubMed, with no restrictions on time or type of document. Search term: prevention of dementia in the Nordics. The second search in PubMed was a general one with the search term dementia and prevention, delimited to 2015 to 2023. The publications included meta-analyses, reviews, and systematic reviews. In Google Scholar, the search terms were prevention, dementia, and the name of the country. We sorted the references by selection criteria of relevance to this report based on an updated bibliography in dementia prevention in the Nordics.

As part of the mapping of Nordic policy and practice, individual interviews were used as a way of collecting reference material about country-specific work within dementia prevention. The participants were recruited by the Nordic Welfare Centre and the Nordic dementia network. 

The 20 members of the Nordic dementia network, including the coordinators of the thematic subnetworks for dementia and ethnic minorities, people with intellectual disabilities, and Indigenous peoples, received an email invitation to participate in an interview about dementia prevention. Participation was voluntary, and each Nordic country participated with at least one expert. Eight persons accepted the invitation and are listed in appendix 2. The interviews were conducted using Teams, and a total of 15 open-ended questions were asked, see Appendix 1. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The questions in the interview guide pertained to dementia prevention in terms of evidence, policy, and practice in the Nordics. Important knowledge and central points from the interviews are included in the results section. A selection of quotations from the interviewees are reproduced in the text.

Fact box 2. Nordic dementia network

Dementia and intellectual disability have been recognised as an important area for Nordic cooperation. Two experts from the Nordic subnetwork on Dementia and Intellectual disabilities have provided topical knowledge for this report and highlighted the special need for prevention in people with Intellectual disabilities.

The subnetwork has a comprehensive expertise in what could be done to support a healthy lifestyle in people with Intellectual disabilities. The subnetwork has compiled this knowledge in the webinar Att förebygga demens hos personer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Är det möjligt?

The project reference group on dementia prevention consists of 13 people recruited by the researchers and the Nordic Welfare Centre. The participants were strategically chosen to represent different countries, professions, sectors, and levels in the Nordics to mirror different aspects on prevention of dementia. The participants were recruited via email by the Nordic Welfare Centre and represented academic research, non-governmental organisations, ministries, governmental agencies, healthcare, employer organisations, or national competence services. The participants had either specific knowledge on dementia prevention practice and policy, or broader knowledge on the policy and practice of health promotion and prevention of NCDs. Each Nordic country was represented by one or two persons. Åland Islands, Faroe Islands and Greenland were also invited to participate with one participant each. One person from Åland Islands participated, but Faroe Islands and Greenland declined. The reference group met twice during spring 2024, once in a Nordic–Baltic roundtable expert meeting and workshop, and once in an on-line meeting. Most of the group took part in both meetings, whilst others participated only once. See appendix 4, Participants of the Nordic reference group in dementia prevention.

The roundtable meeting was held in January 2024. Members of the Nordic project reference group were invited to participate and to discuss and co-work with Nordic colleagues in group discussions on dementia prevention today and how it could evolve in future in the Nordic countries. The Baltic countries were allocated one optional observatory place each, and four experts from the Baltics participated in the workshop. The list of participants and the workshop tasks are available in appendices 3 and 4. The presentations, discussions, and workshops produced reference materials used in this report.

The reference group’s digital meeting was held in March 2024. On the agenda were reflections on the workshop group discussion held earlier, and in addition group discussions in breakout rooms on questions that needed to be further discussed (see Appendix 5). The meeting was recorded and transcribed. The groups reported their discussions in the breakout rooms via email to the project group.