The Institute CIRCLE (Slovenia) and the project partner NGO IMPULS (Montenegro) have joined forces to protect the rights to decent aging in the north of Montenegro and respond to the needs of older people with dementia or older people prone to dementia and the psychosocial needs of their caregivers. Associated partners also joined the project: Municipality of Plav, Municipality of Gusinje, Red Cross Nikšić, Secretariat for Culture, Sports, Youth and Social Welfare - Municipality of Nikšić, Red Cross Plav and Scouts Prokletije - Plav. The project is funded by the European Union.

As part of the project "Protection of the right to dignified aging and dementia prevention", the first of four round tables on "Cross-section of the current situation in the field of dementia in the north of Montenegro" was organized in Podgorica on 26 May 2022.

The round table was attended by representatives of the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Institute for Social and Child Welfare, the Secretariat for Social Welfare, the Red Cross, the Day Care for People with Dementia and representatives from field of social work and local governments from areas in the north of Montenegro.

At the round table, the representatives spoke about the current situation in the field of dementia and the most pressing issues they face in this field (lack of statistics on people with dementia and their needs, lack of informal forms of support, lack of response to the needs of older people with dementia or older people prone to dementia and the psychosocial needs of their caregivers, lack of policies, local plans and strategies for social inclusion and social services for people with dementia and their caregivers etc.).

Services for people with dementia are mostly reduced to institutional protection, while support for those who do not receive institutional treatment is insufficient, and according to the data obtained so far, most of them are in rural areas of Montenegro.

At the round table, each of the representatives of the mentioned participants of the round table spoke about the possibilities and opportunities for providing support to people with dementia and their caregivers. The round table discussed the establishment of a working group to prepare an action plan for the management of dementia in the north of Montenegro and the inclusion of people with dementia and their caregivers in the new Strategy for the Development of the Social Welfare System for the Elderly.

After a round table with the participants, the NGO Impuls and the Institute Circle undertook to take the initiative to form a working group in which all relevant representatives will actively participate.