ELLINIKI ETAIRIA NOSOY ALZHEIMER KAI SYGGENON DIATARACHON SOMATEIO

Their core work

The Greek Alzheimer's Association (Alzheimer Hellas) is the national patient advocacy and clinical support NGO for dementia in Greece, based in Thessaloniki. In H2020 research, they contribute specialized clinical knowledge on managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), the ethics of physical restraint practices in care facilities, and evidence-based non-pharmacologic interventions. They bring access to Greek patient communities, dementia care networks, and real-world clinical validation environments that research-only institutions cannot replicate. Their participation bridges the gap between controlled research protocols and the daily realities of dementia care units.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 involvement (ehcoBUTLER, 2015) was as a third party in a technology-driven project targeting mild cognitive impairment and independent living — a relatively peripheral role with no recorded keywords. By 2018, with RECAGE, their positioning had sharpened considerably: the focus moved from mild and technology-assisted cases to the hardest end of the spectrum — severe behavioural disturbances in institutional care settings. The keyword set from that later phase (special care units, physical restraints, atypical antipsychotics, cost-effectiveness) signals a clear shift toward clinical governance, care ethics, and system-level reform rather than consumer-facing technology.

They are moving deeper into complex institutional dementia care — specialising in BPSD management, care unit design, and the ethics of restrictive practices — making them a relevant partner for projects targeting care home reform, deprescribing initiatives, or dementia policy.

How they like to work

Alzheimer Hellas has not led any H2020 project; they contribute as participants and third parties, taking specialist supporting roles rather than coordinating or driving consortia. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 35 unique consortium partners across 12 countries, which reflects participation in large, multi-site clinical research networks rather than small targeted collaborations. This pattern suggests they are sought out for their patient network access, clinical validation role, and national representativeness in Greece — they are a node others want in their consortium, not a hub that assembles teams.

Their two projects generated connections with 35 unique partners across 12 countries, an unusually broad network for an organisation of this size, reflecting the large multi-national consortia typical of health RIA and IA calls. Geographic reach is European with no documented focus beyond the EU.

What sets them apart

Alzheimer Hellas is one of the very few national dementia patient associations in Southern Europe with active H2020 research participation, giving them a rare dual identity as both an advocacy body and a credentialed research partner. For consortium builders, they offer something universities cannot: direct access to Greek dementia patients, caregivers, and care facility networks for recruitment, co-design, and real-world validation. Their specific focus on the ethics of restraints and BPSD management fills a gap that clinical trial specialists and technology developers typically leave unaddressed.

Highlights from their portfolio

• RECAGE
  Their only directly funded project, and the most substantively documented — it targets a high-complexity, under-researched problem (severe BPSD in dementia) and explicitly addresses care ethics and cost-effectiveness, positioning it as policy-relevant beyond academic outputs.
• ehcoBUTLER
  A long-running (2015-2022) digital health project demonstrating their early cross-sector reach into assistive technology for the elderly, though their third-party role limited direct involvement and knowledge transfer.