On 3, 5 and 6 November 2015, four EPAD focus groups were conducted in Barcelona. These groups are part of a larger research project led by the University of Cambridge.

The focus groups’ research aims at providing insights into how understandings of Alzheimer’s disease risk and its implications are shaped by cultural, social and economic conditions, including health and social care systems, attitudes to dementia and dementia care, and understandings of the role and responsibilities of researchers and research participants.

The groups in Barcelona were organised by Fundacion Pasqual Maragall and facilitated by Alzheimer Europe Project Officer, Ana Diaz.

Participants in three of the groups were drawn from the ALFA cohort study (Fundacion Pasqual Maragall). The other group consisted of people who had expressed their interest in collaborating with the Foundation. The groups included people who do and do not have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. Similar groups will be conducted in the UK and Sweden, and with Alzheimer Europe’s European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) in December 2015 in Brussels.