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TCAID: In Focus - Brain Health and Dementia

At a recent Seanad Eireann Debate on 9th March 2022, Prof Mary McCarron, Executive Director and Prof Sean Kennelly, Clinical Director of the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service were acknowledged for the significant work they have done around brain health and dementia.

This was preceded by the All Party Oireachtas Group Brain Health and Dementia Briefing in Leinster House on 8th March 2022 where political representatives heard from speakers Professor Mary McCarron, Professor Sean Kenneally Professor Iracema Leroi, Mr Kevin Quaid, and Ms Samantha Taylor about the importance of Brain Health.

Professor McCarron highlighted the need to focus on the criticalness of brain health in terms of dementia prevention and said how the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service aims to provide access for every individual with an intellectual disability in Ireland to a Brain Health Clinic and to specialist assessment and comprehensive diagnostic work-up for memory concerns. 

At the Seanad Eireann debate Minister Butler stated that “Professor Mary McCarron is just the most amazing advocate in this area. She always talks about people with Downs syndrome. There are about 700 people with Downs syndrome and dementia in Ireland who are living at home with ageing parents”. In addition, we very much welcomed Ministers Butlers announcement that ‘central to the 2022 Budget is the further investment of 7.3 million euro in dementia services in areas such as memory assessment and support services, memory technology resource rooms and the national intellectual disability memory service’”.

 

What is the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service?

The National Intellectual Disability Memory Service (NIDMS), a partnership between Tallaght University Hospital, Trinity College Dublin and AVISTA, is a National Centre of excellence based in Tallaght University Hospital. People with an intellectual disability have complex and often unmet needs. This national Centre of Excellence fuses the expertise at the generic memory clinic at Tallaght University Hospital, the extensive knowledge on dementia in people with intellectual disability at the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability (TCAID), with the expertise from a well-established dementia specific service and memory clinic for people with ID at AVISTA. The NIDMS is rapidly improving the timely detection of dementia in people with an intellectual disability and offering post diagnostic supports offering people with an intellectual disability specialist assessment and comprehensive diagnostic work-up for memory and cognitive concerns. Since August 2020 the NIDMS has been transforming healthcare delivery by delivering better patient outcomes, better experiences of care and development of support for staff and families.

The multi-disciplinary team understand intellectual disability, know the latest cutting-edge research and evidence-based treatments for better brain health and have extensive experience in dementia and intellectual disability. 

For more information on what the service offers and what a visit to the clinic involves please visit the NIDMS website

 Research

NIDMS provides access to research opportunities, projects and Initiatives across the Brain Health Continuum for people with ID. At a larger scale NIDMS is delivering a thriving research ecosystem by linking research to health service development and giving opportunity to a population that has previously been largely excluded from clinical trials. Dr Eimear McGlinchey is the Research lead for the NIDMS.