The Project

TEIDe works to make dementia prevention more personalized in primary care by turning scientific evidence on physical exercise and cognitive health into practical tools for earlier risk identification and targeted prevention.

The challenge

Dementia prevention requires earlier, more personalized action that is both scientifically grounded and applicable in real-world practice.

The approach

The TEIDe

approach

TEIDe addresses this challenge by connecting research, healthcare, and practical implementation. The project brings together risk prediction, personalization of exercise-based interventions, investigation of biological mechanisms, and clinical feasibility, with the goal of turning prevention into a pathway that is more precise, scalable, and useful for patients, families, and professionals.

Predictive

Large-scale epidemiological data are harmonized and analysed to create dementia risk scores that aim to identify people at higher risk before cognitive decline becomes evident.

Precision

Data from exercise-based randomized controlled trials are pooled to compare how exercise type and dose interact with individual characteristics and cognitive outcomes.

Mechanistic

Biological samples, neuroimaging and behavioural data are used to examine how exercise may influence cognitive health at cellular/molecular, brain and behavioural levels.

Clinical

A pilot study at El Palo Health Center in Málaga tests the feasibility of screening at-risk patients, prescribing tailored exercise and delivering an in-person intervention in primary care.

The approach

The TEIDe

approach

Earlier risk identification

Personalized exercise strategies

Involvement of people and caregivers

Real-world clinical application

Research questions

Four questions,

one prevention pathway

TEIDe’s overall aim is to establish an integrated framework for effective dementia prevention, structured around four complementary lines of work that combine predictive, precision, mechanistic, and clinical-application approaches to bridge scientific knowledge and practical implementation.

Risk prediction

How can dementia risk be identified more accurately and at an earlier stage?

Aim: Build and validate predictive risk scores for future all-cause and cause-specific dementia, designed for practical screening in primary healthcare.

What we do: Develop and refine dementia risk prediction models using large-scale cohort data.

01.

Precision exercise

Which types and doses of exercise work best based on individual characteristics?

Aim: Identify optimal exercise doses and types for cognitive benefit according to individual characteristics, supporting tailored exercise prescription.

What we do: Synthesize evidence from exercise intervention trials to inform tailored prescriptions.

02.

Biological and behavioral mechanisms

Why, and through which processes, can exercise influence cognitive health?

Aim: Determine how different forms of exercise may affect cognition through cellular/molecular, brain and behavioural mechanisms, and how these pathways vary between individuals.

What we do: Investigate how exercise reshapes the brain, studying neuroplasticity, inflammatory biomarkers, and structural brain changes across intervention trials.

03.

Translation into primary care

Can this approach be effectively applied in real-world primary care settings?

Aim: Assess whether screening, tailored exercise prescription and in-person exercise interventions can be implemented as one holistic prevention pathway in primary healthcare.

What we do: Test feasibility and workflows in primary healthcare through a real-world pilot.

04.

TEIDe connects research and practice within one integrated pathway.

Scientific evidence

A solid

scientific foundation

TEIDe builds on a broad existing evidence base. The project leverages cohort data involving more than 3 million people and data from eight rigorously conducted exercise-based randomized controlled trials in middle-aged and older adults with different cognitive profiles. These resources make it possible to examine risk prediction, exercise-response differences and mechanisms at a scale that no single study could provide, before testing how the resulting knowledge can be translated into primary care.

Patient and Public Involvement

Stakeholder perspectives

throughout the project

Together, Federazione Alzheimer Italia and Alzheimer Europe help ensure that scientific and clinical decisions remain connected to the needs, experiences and priorities of the people TEIDe ultimately aims to support.

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) brings the perspectives and experiences of people living with dementia, caregivers and other relevant stakeholders into the research process.

Within TEIDe, PPI is integrated throughout the project to ensure that research remains connected to real-world needs and priorities. Stakeholders provide feedback before, during and after key activities and contribute to the primary-care pilot, including study design, ethical considerations, implementation, interpretation and evaluation.

Stakeholder identification

Training and support

Structured engagement

Feedback and impact

From research to primary care

A bridge between research and care through a more personalized and practice-oriented approach to preventing cognitive decline.

Outputs and impact

What TEIDe

aims to deliver

The project is designed to produce useful and applicable outputs that can support professionals, patients, and healthcare systems.

Dementia risk scores

Predictive tools to support earlier identification of people at risk of all-cause and cause-specific dementia.

01.

Tailored exercise algorithms

Algorithms that link individual characteristics with exercise type and dose to support more personalized prescriptions.

02.

User-friendly manuals

User-friendly materials that translate evidence into practical exercise guidance for use in primary healthcare and by the wider community.

03.

Implementation resources for primary care

Protocols, workflows and feasibility evidence to support screening, exercise prescription and intervention delivery within primary healthcare settings.

04.

Evidence-based tools for dementia prevention.

Funding

Supported through

ERA4Health NutriBrain

The TEIDe project is implemented within the ERA4Health Joint Transnational Call 2024 — NutriBrain, ‘Modulation of brain ageing through nutrition and healthy lifestyle’. The ERA4Health Partnership is co-funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe Framework Programme under Grant Agreement No. 101095426. TEIDe also receives support from the participating national and regional funding organisations: Consejería de Presidencia, Sanidad y Emergencias; Instituto de Salud Carlos III; Research Council of Norway; Federal Ministry for Education and Research; Italian Ministry of Universities and Research; Slovak Academy of Sciences; and the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding.

The value of collaboration

A multidisciplinary

collaboration

TEIDe is built on collaboration between partners with complementary expertise in research, healthcare, innovation, and stakeholder engagement. This multidisciplinary network is what makes it possible to turn scientific evidence into practical and applicable solutions.