The II Autonomic Meeting of Seniors, held in Granada with the participation of 387 seniors from all over Andalusia, has hosted the presentation of the pilot project of the Junta de Andalucía, in coordination with the Andalusian Confederation of Alzheimer’s (CONFEAFA), for the prevention and care of cognitive impairment, funded with 600,000 euros through the Next Generation funds. This initiative aims to assess the feasibility of establishing a service for the prevention and intervention of cognitive impairment in the 168 Active Participation Centers (CPA) owned by the Junta de Andalucía, with a minimal implementation covering the eight provinces.
Aging is a dynamic stage of the life cycle, influenced by biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. Successful aging involves strengthening protective factors, such as healthy lifestyle habits, emotional self-care, and crucially, preventing the onset of cognitive impairment, defined as the loss of capabilities that reduces functionality and autonomy.
The Junta de Andalucía’s pilot project aims to promote active and healthy aging through cognitive training and offer neurorehabilitation sessions to dependent individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) grade I. It also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of early cognitive stimulation and understanding how memory works, changing negative stereotypes, and providing strategies to improve cognitive performance in daily activities.
Furthermore, this initiative aims to increase the safety, confidence, and emotional well-being of participants; assess cognitive status to distinguish normal age-related forgetfulness from pathological forgetfulness; maintain personal autonomy by applying adapted non-pharmacological therapies and coordinating actions between CPAs and nearby Associations of Family Members of People with Alzheimer’s (AFA).
The project’s methodology is based on collaboration with AFAs that are members of CONFEAFA. These entities have extensive experience and professionals trained in cognitive stimulation and neurorehabilitation. In fact, Andalusian AFAs are authorized healthcare centers for providing non-pharmacological therapies and have been pioneers in Spain in implementing a standardized protocol for cognitive stimulation through ICT.
The program will be developed by professionals in Clinical Neuropsychology and General Healthcare Psychology, with the support of nursing assistants, social workers, social educators, and occupational therapists.
Planned activities include sensitization sessions, aimed at CPA members, addressing what memory is, normal age-related changes, everyday forgetfulness, and prevention and stimulation strategies. These sessions aim to inform and debunk the belief that aging is synonymous with loss and promote active aging.
In addition, AFA professionals will evaluate interested attendees, consisting of a questionnaire on everyday memory failures and a mild cognitive assessment test. After the evaluation, small groups (up to 15 people) will be formed to receive cognitive stimulation sessions, combining the use of neurorehabilitation software with pencil and paper workshops. Through cognitive training, which aims to serve around 2,520 users of the Andalusian CPA network, key areas such as language, attention, memory, and orientation will be addressed.