Innovative programmes training and certifying Alzheimer's Caregivers at the Metropolitan College

Professor Konstantinos Lyketsos of the renowned Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA), is a pioneer in the research of dementia and the Alzheimer’s disease. He is also one of the most distinguished specialists in the world in the care and treatment of patients of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. His work on the epidemiology and treatment of the neuropsychiatric characteristics of dementia is considered pioneering. He was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Neuropsychiatric Department, which he headed for over a decade. He developed one of the largest and most successful academic neuropsychiatric programmes in the United States, specialising in dementia and traumatic brain injury. He was born and raised in Athens. In 1980 he graduated from Athens College and continued his studies at Northwestern University where he received his degree in Psychology (1980 – 1984). He received his PhD in Medicine from the Washington University in St. Louis in 1988, and he was awarded his Master’s Degree in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 1994. The professor has published over 400 scientific papers as well as 5 scientific books, with over 52,000 scientific citations (h-index = 123). Recognition of his work has resulted in him receiving major international awards in the field of science, such as the 2018 Geriatric Research Award from the American Academy of Psychiatrists, the 2016 Jack Weinberg Award in Geriatric Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association, and the 2012 Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. In 2006 he received the William S. Proxmire Award as a prominent figure in the fight against Alzheimer’s. For twenty years, Professor Lyketsos has been included in the official list of America’s Top Doctors. From 2007 until today, he holds the Elizabeth Plank Althouse Chair at Johns Hopkins University in the USA and is the Director of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Bayview.

Andrea Nelson is the Director of Memory Care programmes at the Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC). She has extensive background in both geriatric and psychiatric nursing, having worked in psychiatric wards and in long-term care settings including assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, adult day centres and continuing care retirement communities. She has done consulting work for several chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association and assisted living communities in Maryland and Florida. She currently works with dementia patients and their families in the Memory Clinic, assisting them in managing daily care, discussing their options and considering future planning. She also develops training programmes for professional caregivers, and designs innovative educational and social engagement programmes for patients and families. Andrea received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and her Master’s degree in Health Systems Management from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Filippos Aspridis is a graduate of the Department of Occupational Therapy of the School of Health and Welfare Professions of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens (2001). He has been working as an occupational therapist in settings with a geriatric population since 2005 and was in charge of the Occupational Therapy Department of the Athens Nursing Home from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013 he has been a member of the scientific team of Karelleio, providing specialised group or individual occupational therapy programmes to recipients of the Unit’s boarding house and day centre services for the enhancement of cognitive-sensory and sensorimotor skills and activities for daily living, as well as for the improvement of self-care and the functional skills of people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment. He has significant experience in the implementation of assistive technology programmes and systematically participates in actions for the provision of information on dementia throughout Greece. He is the author of articles for journals on dementia (Alzheimer Europe, Communication on Alzheimer’s disease [Επικοινωνία για τη νόσο Alzheimer], etc.) and a lecturer at national conferences and workshops, with presentations and posters on dementia and Alzheimer’s. He also plans and provides psychoeducation seminars for caregivers and health professionals and teaches laboratory courses at the Department of Occupational Therapy of the Metropolitan College.

Dr Philippe-Richard Domeyer works as a Senior Registrar for the National Health Service at the Amarynthos Regional Clinic of the Health Centre of Aliveri and is an Academic Tutor of Health Management at the Hellenic Open University. He is a medical graduate of the University of Athens, specialising in General Practice / Family Medicine. He has completed 2 postgraduate courses in Health Management (University of Piraeus) and Biostatistics (University of Athens). He holds a PhD Degree from the Medical School of the University of Athens in the academic field of quality of life and healthcare quality.  He has received postgraduate theoretical and practical training in numerous scientific fields, such as Diabetes Mellitus, Breast Diseases, Emergency Medicine, Substance Abuse, Pulmonary Diseases and Quality of Life. He has earned 4 scholarships during his studies for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He is fluent in English (C2 level), French (mother tongue) and German (C2 level), while he has a basic level of Swedish (A2 level), and has obtained a total of 15 foreign language degrees. Mr Domeyer has extensive teaching experience and 15 years of clinical experience in various positions as a Doctor for the Greek NHS. He has participated in international research protocols and funded research programmes, and is a member of scientific societies in his speciality.

Thomas Theodosiou is a Clinical Neuropsychologist. He studied Psychology, excelled (ranked first) and graduated from the School of Social Sciences of the University of Crete. He then studied and excelled in the postgraduate programme “Clinical Neuropsychology – Cognitive Neurosciences” of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in collaboration with the Montreal Neurological Institute of the McGill University in Canada. In his postgraduate specialisation course he opted for the clinical direction (Clinical Neuropsychology). In addition, he attended and excelled in NKUA’s specialised training course on “Medical Psychology”. He has participated as a keynote speaker in Greek and international conferences on Neuropsychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry. His papers have been published in an academic collective volume, in the print media, while his research publications are expected to be published in renowned US scientific journals. He is active and has rich clinical experience in the field of neuropsychological rehabilitation and assessment of neurological and psychiatric patients, while he is also active as a researcher / Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Neuropsychological Laboratory of the 1st Department of Neurology of the Eginition Hospital – NKUA. He is a Professor in the English and Greek BSc (Hons) course in Psychology of the Metropolitan College provided in collaboration with the University of East London – England, where he teaches Neuropsychology and Biological Psychology, as well as in the MSc Clinical and Community Psychology postgraduate course, where he supervises students’ theses.

Maria Karala is a Speech and Language Therapist, MSc., graduate of the Department of Speech and Language Therapy of the School of Health and Welfare Professions of the University of Ioannina (former A.T.E.I. of Epirus). She holds a master’s degree in “Interdisciplinary Approach of Developmental and Acquired Communication Disorders”. During her Postgraduate Studies she received a scholarship for auxiliary teaching from the Department of Speech and Language Therapy of Ioannina. Her clinical and research interests focus on the assessment and rehabilitation of communication and swallowing disorders in people with neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. She has worked as a Scientific Head of the Speech and Language Therapy Department at a Physical Rehabilitation Center. Since 2020, she maintains a speech therapy private practice, which is based in Ioannina. At the same time, she is a member of the interdisciplinary team of the Dementia Day Center of the Society of Psychosocial Research and Intervention. She participates in research projects and has publications in reputable scientific journals. She has also participated as a keynote speaker and trainer in Panhellenic conferences of Speech and Language Therapy, Neurology and Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Dr Dionysia Kontaxopoulou, Clinical Neuropsychologist, MSc, PhD, completed her undergraduate studies at the Department of Psychology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She then graduated with “Distinction” from the three-year postgraduate course in Clinical Neuropsychology provided by the Medical School of NKUA in collaboration with the Health Science Center of the University of Texas, and carried out her doctoral dissertation at the 2nd Department of Neurology of the Hospital of Attica, NKUA Medical School, which she also completed with “Distinction”. She has worked as a lead researcher in research programmes and pharmaceutical studies while, at the same time, she has given numerous presentations at international and Greek scientific conferences, and has also written several papers for journals. She was a Research Associate at the 2nd Department of Neurology of the Attikon University Hospital, and she is currently working as a Neuropsychologist at the Psychogeriatric Association “Nestor”. Finally, she attends the educational programme of Cognitive – Behavioural Psychotherapy provided by the Institute of Behavioural Research and Therapy. She is part of the teaching staff of the Psychology courses of the Metropolitan College in Athens

Eleni Margioti is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and doctoral candidate at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a scholarship from the A. G. Leventis Foundation. She studied Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology from the Medical School of the University of Athens and the Health Sciences Center of the University of Texas, USA. During her undergraduate and postgraduate studies she received scholarships from the Scholarships Foundation of the University of Athens. She has been working for the Athens Alzheimer Association since 2007 and is scientifically responsible for the operation of the Alzheimer’s Day Centre in Marousi. She has teaching experience as a lecturer in undergraduate and postgraduate courses of private colleges since 2013. In addition, she has been participating in research programs (Long Lasting Memories, Epidemiological Study of dementia in Greece – HELIAD) in collaboration with the 1st Department of Neurology of the Eginition Hospital from 2009 until today. Her clinical and research interest focuses on neurodegenerative diseases. She has a license to practice Psychology (10031, 10 Jan. 2007, Prefecture of Fthiotida) and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Neuropsychological Society (HNPS) and the Hellenic Dementia Society.

The psychiatrist – psychotherapist Antonis Mougias was the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer’s centre of the Psychogeriatric Association “Nestor” from 2011 to 2019 and is the Scientific Director of the Memory Centre of that association, he is an elected member of the BoD of the  Hellenic Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology and holds a PhD from the University of Ioannina in Psychiatry. He has developed and is responsible for dozens of interventions aimed at dementia patients and their caregivers, the goal of which is early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, providing useful activities for dementia patients, training caregivers – relatives of patients and reducing the burden of dementia on caregivers. In addition, Mr. Mougias has attended a two-year psychoeducation course at the University Mental Health Research Institute (EPIPSY) and completed his training in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. He has published numerous papers in international journals and Greek conferences, and has contributed to the writing of books and guidelines. As General Secretary of the Hellenic Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology he gives speeches to the community and holds workshops as well as educational courses.

Giannis Bilianis is a lawyer in Athens. He studied Law at the Democritus University of Thrace, from which he graduated in 2016, and holds a Master’s Degree in Tax Law from the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has attended the educational course “Ethics in Dementia Care” of the KU LEUVEN University and specialises in personal data protection issues, having received the “DPO Executive” certification from TUV AUSTRIA. He works as a Data Protection Officer for the Company “SOS DOCTORS” and as a legal advisor for the Athens Alzheimer Association. He has written articles on ethics issues in the field of dementia and since 2018 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Alzheimer Association.

Notis Paraskevopoulos is an actor, theatre director and postgraduate student of the University of Hull in England in the field of dementia. Along with his colleague Konstantina Maltezou, he has developed and is implementing the “Thallo” programme. Following a founding donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, implementation of the model entertainment programme in nursing homes began, as well as the provision of information to staff and relatives about degenerative diseases of the brain. He is the author of the book “365 Days Next to the Elderly”, which includes an explanation of the Thallo method and more than 2,500 stimuli and activities for the elderly and people living with dementia, and since 2019 he has been a member of the International Committee of the Hellenic Initiative Against Alzheimer’s Disease. He has also written and directed the play “Violets and Hyacinths” which was based on real stories of people with dementia.

He is co-founder of the seveneleven company, the main purpose of which is to improve the social and mental condition of the elderly and people with dementia living both within and outside of nursing homes. The company collaborates with the Museum of Cycladic Art, designing model activities of sensory orientation and virtual reality that are implemented in local nursing homes and are aimed at people living with dementia, as well as with the new Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, designing a model activity implemented both on the premises of the museum as well as digitally, aimed at people over 60 years of age, including those with mild cognitive impairment. The overall work of the company has been supported by large organisations such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the TIMA Charitable Foundation and the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation.