A group of senior leaders from Flemish organisations working with older people (In4Care) visited the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet on 25 March 2026. The visit, hosted by the Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCeDem), focused on how research, policy and care practice interact within the Swedish system.
The delegation consisted of 45 CEOs and senior managers from organisations and nursing homes supporting older adults in Flanders. Their study trip to Stockholm aimed to explore Swedish approaches to ageing, health and care.
During the session, Amaia Calderón Larrañaga , associate professor and research group leader at ARC and co leader of TraCeDem , introduced the visitors to ARC's research portfolio. She presented ongoing work on ageing, health inequalities and care systems, as well as TraCeDem's efforts to support more personalised dementia prevention and care through interdisciplinary research.
"It was a pleasure to host this visit and exchange perspectives on how research, policy and care can be better aligned to address the needs of ageing populations. Such dialogues are central to TraCeDem's mission to advance more integrated, equitable and person-centred dementia prevention and care", says Amaia Calderón Larrañaga.
Researchers from ARC, including Janne Agerholm , Pernilla Alencar Siljehag , Sakura Sakakibara , Susanna Gentili and Mariam Kirvalidze , also presented studies on topics such as equity in healthcare, pathways into home care, the use of formal and informal care among people with cognitive impairment, care transitions in older adults, and the role of informal caregivers.
The programme further included an international comparison. Katrien Verhegge, director of residential support systems for older adults at the Belgian organisation Zorgnet Icuro , contributed insights into the Flemish context, creating opportunities for dialogue between the two countries' systems.
The visit concluded with a joint discussion in which participants exchanged experiences and reflected on challenges shared across borders, including demographic changes, workforce shortages and the need to integrate health and social care.
