The Department of Geriatrics & Long-Term Care conduct first official site visit of the WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia in June 2023
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated HMC’s Department of Geriatrics & Long-Term Care as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia earlier this year. Following the formal announcement in March 2023, the first jointly conducted site visit was arranged at the start of June 2023 with Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad, the appointed head of the Collaborating Center, her team and representatives from the WHO.
Dr. Samar ELFeky, Regional Advisor Health Promotion and Social Determinants of Health, Regional Focal Person for Health for Older People, Department of Healthier Populations (HPD), World Health Organization, Regional Office of Eastern Mediterranean Region, visited the Department of Geriatrics & Long-Term Care, Hamad Medical Corporation.
This was the first official site visit to the newly designated WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia. The visit provided opportunities for the regional advisor to get an overview of Qatar Geriatric services and identify areas of mutual cooperation and support. Dr Rayana Bou Haka, WHO Representative in Qatar, also joined the site visit.
In accordance with the proposed terms of reference, the Center's priority focus areas will revolve around activities related to aging research, Long-term care continuum network, Integrated care for older people (ICOPE) spread, and the WHO global action plan on public health response to Dementia 2017-2025, as well as offering training and education to health care professionals in the region and beyond. Dr Samar ElFeky congratulated Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad and her team on the impressive advances in implementation of ICOPE, as well as the Qatar National Dementia Plan.
Dementia Workshop
National Dementia Plan Taskforce held a key stakeholder collaborative engagement workshop in May 2023 to discuss the needs of people living with Dementia
The National Dementia Plan Taskforce, led by Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad, Chairperson of the Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Head of the WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia in Qatar, arranged a multi-stakeholder workshop to discuss the needs of those individuals with Dementia. The workshop was also used to identify how other stakeholders can help ensure that different members of society, including those with mobility or cognitive impairment, can still benefit from community life.
Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad, who is also the Medical Director of Rumailah Hospital and Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (for which she is the Acting CEO), said that the workshop brought together representatives from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), HMC, and Primary Health Care Corporation, along with key industry partners, such as Qatar Foundation and the Qatar National Library, Al Meera Supermarkets, and Ooredoo, as well as some family members and primary carers of people with Dementia to give their special insights into the needs of their family members.
Dr. Hanadi Al-Hamad and her team were commended for their efforts and dedication to promoting the services and safety of their patients and the families living with Dementia. This event is not only an achievement for the National Dementia Plan Taskforce or the WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, but it is also an achievement for Qatar and the care demonstrated within our public sectors towards those patient groups that particularly need champions.
Launch of ICOPE Clinic
As part of the WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia initiatives led by HMC’s Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care, the first Integrated Care for Older People Clinic was opened in Al Wajba Health Center
HMC’s Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care, which has been appointed as a WHO Collaborating Center for Healthy Ageing and Dementia in Qatar, has partnered with Primary Health Care Corporation to establish the first Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Clinic in Al Wajba Health Center. The ICOPE healthcare approach helps broader health and social care systems respond more effectively to the diverse and complex needs of older people.
The WHO ICOPE Guidelines provide recommendations for healthcare workers on how to best assess older people’s health and effectively address their needs, ideally in community-based healthcare settings that are easy to access. The aim is to promote healthy ageing practices and prevent, slow, or reverse declines in the physical and mental capacities of older people.
