ARC researchers granted funding from Forte
Amaia Calderon-Larrañaga and Weili Xu are recipients of the Elderly and Ageing 2024 Grant from Forte and will both receive funding for the period 2025-2027.
Lead researcher Amaia Calderon-Larrañaga is awarded 4,977,000 SEK for the project ”Identifying new strategies for integrated person-centered care of older adults with dementia: from early signs to severe stages”.
About the project?
Even without a cure, people with dementia and their families can maintain a good quality of life with appropriate medical and social support. A person-centred care model shows promise, but further research is needed to determine the best ways to organise, deliver, and evaluate such care.
The project aims to address three key questions:
- How can we provide comprehensive, person-centred assessments and follow-ups?
- What factors predict major health events, and how do these events affect dementia progression and care needs?
- How can care transitions between medical and social services be improved?
The project comprises three studies:
- Using data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, the researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of the Health Assessment Tool in predicting the progression from cognitive impairment to dementia.
- Analysing data from the Swedish Dementia Registry, they will investigate predictors of common acute health events (e.g., falls, pneumonia) and their impact on dementia and care needs.
- The researchers will map care transitions using national registers, focusing on hospital discharge and rehabilitation phases.
“The final goal of this project is to advance integrated, person-centred care for people with dementia, improving their quality of life by slowing disease progression and enhancing support across care settings,” says Amaia Calderon-Larrañaga.
What does this grant mean for your research?
“This grant will allow me to continue my research on medical and social care for the elderly, with a special focus on the complex needs of people living with dementia, using both existing and new datasets. It’s also a great opportunity to start collaborations with new researchers at KI. Most importantly, the funding will help me secure support for hiring an additional postdoc for the team soon.”
Co-applicants are Laura Fratiglioni, Maria Eriksdotter, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Giulia Grande and Jonas Wastessonhttps://ki.se/en/people/jonas-wastesson, all from Karolinska Institutet.
Lead researcher Weili Xu is awarded 5,000,000 SEK for the project “Identifying unmet needs for coordinated person-centred dementia care”.
About the project
Dementia presents a significant challenge to healthcare systems. The complex nature of the condition requires individuals and their caregivers to engage with multiple healthcare sectors, necessitating coordinated, person-centred care across various providers.
This project aims to address these challenges by focusing on the intersections and collaboration across systems. By doing so, it seeks to provide practical recommendations to support coordinated and person-centred care for people with dementia.
“We aim to bridge the gaps between different healthcare sectors to ensure that people with dementia receive seamless, comprehensive care tailored to their unique needs,” says Weili Xu.
How will this grant impact the direction and scope of your research?
“Dementia care is one of my research lines, and this grant may ensure the continuation of my research on dementia care to provide evidence on optimising the dementia care process and establishing an effective model for care collaboration.”
Who else is involved in the project?
The project involves researchers from my research group, the Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, and the Red-Cross University.