Neuropsychiatric Clinic, SUS, Malmo and Nationalt videnscenter for dementia (NVD), Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen is working to improve the quality of dementia care on each side of Öresund. NVD spans the treatment, training of health personnel and research. Recently, Region Skåne has established a center of excellence for dementia that is linked to the Neuropsychiatric Clinic, SUS, and whose mission, among other things, is to disseminate new knowledge about dementia care. In projects conducted in our centers, we have received feedback that the number of patients with a foreign background who are looking for memory problems is considerably lower than what one would expect based on the total number of citizens in this category.

It is not acceptable to have cultural / language barriers excluding citizens from high-quality care that can offer improved quality of life, especially if treatment taken early in the disease. It is obvious that the number of dementia sufferers with a foreign background will increase, so health care organization and working methods must begin to adapt. To meet these patients' needs we must educate a nursing staff and those courses must be relevant, we must identify needs and develop methods and approaches that is working.

As the dementia disease progresses the patients ability to understand other languages than their mother tongue is reduced. The more the disease progresses, the more important the non-verbal communication and the cultural patterns become. If care personal do not have the ability to interpret this, the presence of anxiety and aggression for people with dementia increases, thereby decreasing the welfare both of the patients, staff and relatives. It is reasonable that a large percentage of those trained are of foreign origin, and thus is the reason that we are planning to create region-wide training. Health workers of foreign origin constitute a limited resource. This project aims to establish joint regional training courses for health professionals specializing in the care of dementia patients often with a foreign background.

Patients with a foreign background should be offered the same access and they - and their families - should experience the same quality of care as other citizens. To achieve this, the project goal is establishing joint regional training of health professionals specializing in the care of dementia patients with a foreign background. Our courses, which are based on a thorough survey of the problem and research to find new methods, will lead to the nursing staff's ability to identify patients and make the correct diagnosis significantly is improved.

Second, our joint training to external evaluation and quality assurance to enable them to survive after the project ended, and thus lead to the mobility of dementia care staff facilitated further.

Thirdly, our communication and information initiatives for all target groups to create awareness of our project that could serve as a role model for other medical specializations. This will further contribute to the INTERREG:s third objective: increasing everyday interaction in the Øresund-region.