In 2010, the number of people with dementia (PwD) in Europe was estimated to be 9.95 million [
1]. As a result of the increasing number of elderly people in most populations [
2], the number of PwD is expected to rise by approximately 40% to 13.95 million in 2030 [
1], imposing a major challenge for European societies. A subgroup of special vulnerability and importance is people with migration background (PwM) [
3]. There are few data available which describe the number of PwM with dementia; for example, in Germany, the estimated number is 96,500 [
4]. Furthermore, the prevalence of dementia within the migrant population will increase particularly strongly, since the number of older PwM is rising significantly [
3]. In the EU, the number of PwM (born abroad) who are over 64 years of age has risen from 4.73 million in 2000 to 7.37 million in 2017 [
5]. A study by Canevelli et al. estimates the number of PwM with dementia who are over 64 years of age in EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries to be almost 476,500 in 2017 [
6]. Based on these figures, the proportion of PwM with dementia over 64 years of age among PwM from this age group is just under 6.5%. According to data from the “Dementia in Europe Yearbook 2019”, the proportion of PwD (with and without migration background) who are over 64 years of age among people from this age group in the EU and EFTA countries is almost 8.4% in 2018 [
7]. This difference indicates the problem of a lack of diagnosis within migrant communities in many European countries [
8]. One reason for the underdiagnosis of dementia in PwM could be a lack of adequate diagnostic tools [
3]. Meta-analyses of dementia screening studies have shown that diagnose of dementia in migrants is more complicated and the diagnosis are less valid than in the majority population [
8]. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that PwM may develop dementia earlier than people without migration background [
9,
10]. The increasing number of older PwM adds to the challenges for dementia care [
11]. Various studies show that PwM use fewer dementia-related healthcare services [
12‐
16]. Factors which may explain access issues for migrants include: convictions about dementia, lack of information and awareness about services, language barriers, stigmatization, and availability of services. Consequently, there is a risk that in the next years an increasing number of PwM will live with dementia and have no access to appropriate care [
3]. There are efforts in different regions or countries to remedy these problems. For instance, in Germany, projects such as DeMigranz (Demenz Support Stuttgart) address specifically PwM with dementia and their relatives [
17], or in the UK, the Somali dementia aware project (Somali Cultural Centre Camden London) focusses on PwD and caregivers from minority ethnic groups [
18]. In encountering the challenges of dementia in their countries there is an increasing number of European countries issuing national dementia plans (NDPs) [
19]. However, a systematic comparison of NDPs and their focus on care for PwM across Europe is missing.
This study aims to determine to what extent the special needs of PwM with dementia are identified in European countries, whether specific actions are taken at the national level to ensure their care and how attention is paid to the relationship between dementia and migration. The issue of actions for PwM with dementia is divided into two sub-questions: 1. Do specific healthcare services for PwM with dementia currently exist at the national level? 2. Are specific actions for the care of PwM with dementia planned? In this study, healthcare services at the national level are defined as all services involving healthcare, such as information, support, advice, diagnose, or treatment plans, which are not limited to specific regions, companies, or institutions and are referred to in official national documents by country representatives (e.g., representatives of health ministries, other members of government or representatives of national professional societies).