Every year on September 18th, Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) publish the World Alzheimer Report to mark World Alzheimer's Month. This year’s report focused on dementia rehabilitation.
Dr Michelle Kelly, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Dr Caoimhe Hannigan, Assistant Professor of Psychology from NCI’s School of Business and Social Sciences, were invited to be expert contributors. Their research “Identifying a novel pathway for the implementation of cognitive rehabilitation in Ireland,” can be read on page ninety-nine in this year’s report.
Funded by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Dr Kelly and Dr Hannigan, alongside Dr Garret McDermott from Tallaght University Hospital, designed the “CR-Ireland,” project to offer an innovative solution to address inadequate staff resourcing for cognitive rehabilitation in Irish memory services. Through their research, the team created a new service model to deliver community-based Cognitive Rehabilitation (CR) through supervised placements for early career psychologists.
“In Ireland, many master‘s-level and doctoral-level trainee psychologists are required to complete supervised clinical placements as part of their training. Often, the demand for placements in older adult services is unmet. We tapped into this unmet need by creating a supervised work placement model for behavioural psychology trainees, with a pilot site at the Regional Specialist Memory Clinic (RSMC) at Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin. People living with dementia and their families contributed to the project design, procedures, and ethical considerations.” (A quote from the World Alzheimer Report, 2025, p.99.)
People living with dementia and their families contributed to the project design, procedures, and ethical considerations. Following the clinical placements and vastly varied training, the CR-Ireland project provides further evidence of the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation; the case data has been positive and supports previous research findings. Beyond this, ongoing work aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this supervised placement model in the Irish context. The CR-Ireland project has the potential to significantly impact wider dementia-care service provision by identifying ways to bridge the gap between policy and practice.
You can learn more about this research and the project “CR-Ireland,” by reading this year’s World Alzheimer Report.
Why this contribution is significant:
This research contribution by Dr Kelly and Dr Hannigan alongside Dr McDermott is noteworthy for National College of Ireland as Alzheimer's Disease International is the global federation of over 100 Alzheimer and dementia associations worldwide. ADI has consultative status with the World Health Organization. The World Alzheimer Report is peer-reviewed and authored by leading dementia researchers, clinicians, policy experts, national governments, and health ministries. Advocacy organisations cite the report to shape dementia strategies and policies. WHO and UN agencies also reference the report when developing global dementia frameworks. To be included in this highly regarded, respected report is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all the researchers whose work is included in this publication.
“Seeing our Cognitive Rehabilitation research study included in the World Alzheimer Report was definitely a pinch-myself moment. The report focuses on the crucial role of rehabilitation for dementia, as a right, not a luxury. This project is so important to us, we saw first-hand the incredible benefits that Cognitive Rehabilitation can have for people living with dementia." ~ Dr Michelle Kelly, Associate Professor of Psychology at NCI’s School of Business and Social Sciences.
The psychology team at NCI are actively involved in a variety of research projects, across several topics and areas of interest. Research is primarily carried out across three streams, Health, Well-being and Cognition, Teaching and Evaluation, and Attitudes and Behavioural Science. The psychology team have a number of labs which foster research on more specific topics.
You can learn more about the research being conducted by NCI’s psychology team by visiting the Psychology Research home page.
Anyone who has experienced a loved one suffering with dementia will know that it can be upsetting and overwhelming, and it can be hard to know what to do or where to turn when Alzheimer’s symptoms begin to present themselves.
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland provides a range of information services and supports throughout the country.
You can learn more about these support services by visiting the Information and Support page.
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