Finland

Finland does not run a national population screening program for dementia. Instead, opportunistic screening is done when risk factors are present. GPs and memory nurses use familiar instruments, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Clock-Drawing Test, verbal fluency tests, paired with structured functional interviews with caregivers. National guidance developed by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare emphasises preventive ageing policy, early identification, and consistent referral pathways from primary care to memory units.

Finland maintains access to structural and functional neuroimaging, including Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans. Finland has a valuable PET imaging capacity, led by the Turku PET Centre, HUS, and university networks. Amyloid PET is increasingly used in diagnostically unclear cases, especially for early-onset presentations, atypical features, or when determining eligibility for anti-amyloid disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).

In Finland, genetic testing is not part of routine diagnostic work-up for Alzheimer’s disease but is used selectively in specialist settings, particularly in cases of suspected early-onset or familial dementia. Studies from Finnish cohorts demonstrate the use of genetic analyses of key Alzheimer-related genes (e.g., APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, APOE) in such contexts, while large national initiatives such as FinnGen highlight the strong integration of genetics into research and future diagnostics.

CSF Aβ42/40 ratio, total tau, p-tau are accessible in all major university hospital memory clinics and are used when diagnosis remains uncertain or atypical.

Blood-based biomarkers, plasma p-tau isoforms, Aβ42/40 ratio, GFAP, are progressing from research into limited pilot clinical deployment. Several centres (such as Helsinki and Turku) participate in international validation consortia, and Finland is expected to become an early adopter once EU-level clinical-use guidance stabilises.

Finland’s post-diagnostic dementia care is built around a network of public memory clinics embedded in university and central hospitals, which provide ongoing follow-up for complex or early-onset cases. These clinics coordinate medication management, monitoring of progression, MRI follow-up when needed, and guidance on care planning, driving assessments, and social services.

Outside the hospital level, much of the long-term support is delivered through a decentralised community-care model. Following the 2023 SOTE reform, day-to-day care responsibilities shifted to the 22 well-being services counties, which organise:

● Home-care services (assistance with ADLs, medication support, meal delivery)
● Memory-nurse follow-up for stability checks and care-plan updates
● Day activity centres and memory cafes designed to preserve function and provide social interaction
● Short-term respite care, both in-home and in institutional settings
● Long-term residential and enhanced sheltered housing when home living becomes unsafe.

Urban regions have more robust capacity, particularly memory nurses, rehabilitation options, and day centres, while remote areas face staffing shortages, longer travel distances, and fewer specialised units. A major non-medical pillar is the Muistiluotsi network operated by the Alzheimer Society of Finland (Muistiliitto). The Muistiliuotsi centres, present in every region, provide:

● Individual and family counselling
● Diagnosis navigation and service mapping
● Caregiver education programs
● Peer-support groups and early-stage Alzheimer’s disease groups
● Legal/benefit guidance (care allowances, disability benefits, Kela reimbursements)
● Training for professionals and volunteers.

Finland also has a developed palliative and end-of-life care framework. National palliative guidelines ensure dementia is recognised as a life limiting condition, and each hospital district has palliative hubs providing symptom management, advance-care-planning support, and coordination with home hospice teams.

Finland’s health system ensures that most dementia-related medical care is publicly financed. Standard symptomatic medications appear on the national reimbursement lists, meaning that patients pay regulated co-payments until they reach the annual medicines ceiling, which in 2025 is €633.17. After reaching this limit, patients pay only a minimal fixed fee per reimbursable prescription. Diagnostics, specialist consultations and follow-up provided within the public system are subject to low client fees, and Kela reimbursements further reduce out-of-pocket costs for individuals who use private services for part of their care.

For novel disease-modifying therapies such as lecanemab, financing remains uncertain until a national reimbursement decision is issued. Before such a decision, access is generally possible only through specialist centres or private pathways, and costs are high because they include infusion services, repeated MRI scans for Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities (ARIA) surveillance, and biomarker confirmation through CSF testing or PET imaging. Once reimbursement is approved, costs would largely shift to the public system, mirroring Finland’s long-standing commitment to equitable access.

Family caregivers play a central role in dementia care in Finland, and the country maintains a structured support framework to assist them. The Finnish informal care scheme, omaishoidon tuki, allows well-being services counties to recognise a family member as a caregiver and, depending on need, provide financial compensation, respite and leave arrangements, caregiver training, accident insurance and periodic health checks. Eligibility criteria and allowance levels vary between counties but are anchored in national legislation and subject to a national minimum standard.

Civil-society organisations offer important complementary support. Carers Finland (Omaishoitajat ry) provides advocacy, legal guidance, practical coaching and peer-support groups, while Muistiliitto and its Muistiluotsi centres provide education, dementia-literacy resources, navigation support, helplines, early-stage support groups and community activities designed to reduce isolation. Finland’s dementia policy framework consistently highlights the importance of early caregiver involvement, regular respite options and the integration of caregiver needs assessments directly into the memory-clinic and community-care pathways.

Finland’s dementia policy framework has evolved through two major phases. Between 2012 and 2020, the country implemented the National Memory Programme, titled “Creating a Memory-Friendly Finland,” a systematically articulated national dementia strategy. It focused on promoting brain health across the life course, combating stigma, strengthening timely diagnosis, and developing an integrated service model that linked health care, social care and civil-society organisations. The program placed particular emphasis on workforce training, early identification through primary care, public education, and the expansion of community-based services such as memory nurses and day-activity centres. It also strengthened the role of Muistiliitto and its Muistiluotsi centres as key partners in public awareness, family counselling and care navigation.

After 2020, dementia was incorporated into the broader National Programme on Ageing 2030, which aligns dementia care with Finland’s wider goals on healthy ageing, social inclusion, and service accessibility. Within this framework, dementia is treated as a major public-health priority requiring prevention, early intervention, and coordinated care across the new SOTE structures introduced in 2023. The Ageing 2030 program promotes regionally equitable services, supports the ageing workforce, and seeks to ensure that people with memory disorders can live at home safely for as long as possible.

Finnish dementia policy is now embedded within the broader post-SOTE governance model. Rather than a stand-alone dementia strategy, implementation occurs through well-being services counties, which are responsible for designing and delivering memory services, community support, rehabilitation options and informal care schemes. National guidance on ageing, prevention and service coordination continues to shape county-level planning.

The emphasis in the coming years is on prevention, early identification and equitable access, reflecting Finland’s commitment to narrowing the service gap between urban hospital districts and sparsely populated regions. Ongoing SOTE monitoring will determine whether structural reforms succeed in strengthening primary care, integrating social services, stabilizing the workforce and reducing diagnostic and care delays. National ministries continue to refine policy through periodic updates to ageing strategies, workforce-development plans and digital-health initiatives, all of which indirectly shape dementia services.

The Turku PET Centre has been pivotal in demonstrating how amyloid PET, using tracers such as F-flutemetamol, can clarify uncertain diagnoses and modify treatment plans. Finnish centres were also early adopters of CSF Aβ42/40 ratio refinement and have contributed to harmonisation studies that shape European practice standards.

In parallel, Finland is becoming increasingly active in the blood-based biomarkers research, with programs exploring the diagnostic accuracy of plasma p-tau isoforms, Aβ42/40 ratios and glial markers. Many of these initiatives are linked to cross border collaborations and EU-funded biomarker standardisation projects. Digital health also plays a growing role, with Finnish institutions experimenting with cognitive digital assessments, remote monitoring tools, and AI-enhanced diagnostic aids.

The country is part of the international network of FINGER-based lifestyle and risk-reduction trials, which have expanded into the World Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS) consortium. The FINGER model refers to a multidomain lifestyle intervention developed in Finland that combines dietary guidance, physical activity, cognitive training, and vascular risk management to reduce the risk of cognitive decline. The original FINGER trial demonstrated that simultaneous targeting of multiple modifiable risk factors can significantly improve or maintain cognitive function in at-risk older adults. This approach has since been scaled globally through the World Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS) consortium, adapting the model to different populations and healthcare systems. Risk-reduction research continues alongside these innovations, building on the long-term datasets created through the FINGER trial and its national cohorts.