The priority mentioned above can be an indicator of more attention given to dementia. Another evidence was the approval of the dementia plan by the Senate House, although it still needs to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and, later on, to be implemented.

As mentioned in previous sections, the Government has been reviewing existing strategies on dementia care, budget allocation, and workforce enhancement. Indeed, it has implemented the Dementia Community Support Scheme in 2017. Also, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been coordinating with relevant departments to reserve sites for the provision of more day care and residential care units for older people. Besides, the Government is pledged to continue the public consultation on advanced care directives which is a major concern on the end-of-life care for older people including dementia. Based on the Mental Health Review Report (MHRR) and the Elderly Services Programme Plan (ESPP), it is expected that the Government will continue to serve as a platform facilitating coordination among bureaus, departments and organisations, and regularly review the progress of change in relevant policies and financing for dementia in the future. However, no clear information or specific evidence could be found at the time of this desk review (March 2020).

Not applicable.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is running a regional project on Developing Innovative Community-Based Long-Term Care Systems and Services, which includes Indonesia. The project is running from 2016-2020 (ADB, 2020; Kementrian PPN/BAPPENAS & ADB, 2018). This might lead to a change in policy particularly regarding long-term care in the next few years.

References:

ADB. (2020). Regional: Developing Innovative Community-Based Long-Term Care Systems and Services. https://www.adb.org/projects/53370-001/main

Kementrian PPN/BAPPENAS, & ADB. (2018). Workshop on Development of the National Strategic Plan for Long-term Care. Workshop on Development of the National Strategic Plan for Long-Term Care.

Yes. Jamaica’s commitment to the WHO Global Dementia Observatory (GDO) is indicative of an effort toward baseline evaluation of the local dementia landscape, a result of which is hoped to be a development of policy or commitment to financing for dementia in the future.

During the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) 2019 Caribbean Regional Meeting held in Kingston, Jamaica, in November 2019, the CEO of ADI publicly called upon the Jamaican Minister of Health, Dr. the Honourable Christopher Tufton to take a stand for policy and budget commitment for Jamaica. Minister Tufton responded to this via Twitter, stating his Ministry’s commitment to the issue.

The current discussions on training and capacity building existing community providers through STRiDE and training manual will result in health systems strengthening at the county level. The use of existing personnel will result in sustainability of the activities and since dementia will be covered as part of the other modules in the training manual, part of dementia financing is expected to be incorporated within these programmes. The delay may occur in uptake of the manual or limited finances to train community provides.

Not specifically, but it is hoped that it will be included in the Specific Action Program: Aging Care 2019-2024. This will create a directive for the need to generate specific actions and financing.

In an article by New Zealand Doctor following the release of the 2019 budget (NZ Doctor, 2019), it was noted that “no additional investment has been directed at specialist services for people with dementia for more than 10 years and none is projected”.

References:

NZ Doctor. (2019). BUDGET 2019: People with dementia obviously don’t count. New Zealand Doctor website. Available from: https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/article/undoctored/budget-2019-people-dementia-obviously-dont-count.

No, there is no evidence found.