2017•11•15     Kuala Lumpur

Dementia Prevention and Enhanced Care (DePEC) is a global health research group led by Newcastle University, established under UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funding. The group aims to identify priority areas for dementia care research and to establish foundation for translational research programme on dementia risk reduction and enhanced care, in low and middle income countries including Tanzania, India and Malaysia.

On 7th November 2017, UNU-IIGH jointly with Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University Malaysia and University Malaya as a part of DePEC global health research group hosted the Networking Event on NIHR Dementia Global Health Programme. The event brought together the key stakeholders involved in dementia care and research in Malaysia including representatives from Ministry of Health; social welfare, academics from various universities, specialists, primary care physicians, nurses and NGOs.

The morning session started by a presentation by Dr Devi Mohan, Senior lecturer in Global Public Health, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia who provided an overview of “Ageing in Malaysia”. The session followed by presentation by Dr Tan Maw Pin, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Malaya on “Dementia and Dementia Research in Malaysia”. Dr Michaela Goodson, Dean of Research, Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia introduced the attendees to the NIHR DePEC Programme and future plans.

Attendees were then divided into groups for an interactive session whereby they need to identify the challenges for dementia and geriatric research in Malaysia and identify research priorities for dementia in Malaysia. Based on the discussions, the group managed to explore and develop concrete strategies to enhance stakeholders engagement in dementia care and research, and explored strategies for translation of the research outcomes to policies in dementia risk reduction and enhanced care.

As a bonus activity, the attendees were introduced to and conducted the M.Suzuki’s Pillow Dumbbell Exercise (mydumbbell™) lead by UNU-IIGH Research Officer, Dr Lee Yi Yi, who is a certified trainer and also the emcee of the event. The event concluded with a closing remarks by Prof Daniel Reidpath, Professor of Population Health and Director, South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia.

Dr Michaela Goodson leading the interactive session. Photo: UNU-IIGH. Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0

Attendees conducting the M.Suzuki’s Pillow Dumbbell Exercise (mydumbbell™) lead by UNU-IIGH Research Officer, Dr Lee Yi Yi. Photo: UNU-IIGH. Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0

Group photo of attendees in front of UNU-IIGH buildingPhoto: UNU-IIGH. Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0