Digital tool for the early detection of dementia in people with intellectual disabilities honoured at Salus 2026 by the Styrian Health Fund!
The Styrian Health Fund presented the SALUS Award for the best quality projects in the health sector in 2026 at a ceremony held on 29 October 2026 at the Old University. In the healthcare category, Professor Barbara Gasteiger-Klicpera, Annalisa La Face, PhD, and Professor Dominik Pendl were beaming with joy as they accepted the award for their project ‘DigIDe – A digital tool for the early detection of dementia in people with intellectual disabilities’ from the University of Graz (Inclusive Education Unit and CERI). DigIDe is an adaptive digital tool for carers designed to facilitate the early detection of dementia in people with intellectual disabilities. The tool was developed through a participatory process involving carers from organisations providing support for people with disabilities and can be used without any diagnostic expertise. It enables progress documentation in which physical, emotional and cognitive changes in people with intellectual disabilities are systematically recorded. Furthermore, it includes cognitive test tasks which the programme automatically adapts to the abilities of the person with an intellectual disability. From the jury’s statement: “The project’s low-threshold approach is particularly convincing. The services and insights developed are easily accessible and support not only the individuals concerned themselves, but also the care staff who carry out valuable work with these target groups on a daily basis.” Here you can find a video in which the DigIDe tool is presented in more detail by the award winners. The Styrian Health Quality Award was presented for the 16th time; other recipients included the City of Graz’s ‘Health Hub’ and the ‘HerzMobil’ e-health project, as well as Gerd Hartinger for his life’s work. Here you can find the Styrian Health Fund’s report on Salus 2026.
