Scottish priorities for dementia and brain health research—results of a national research priority setting exercise
Fenna Maria Alexandra Lunter, Winnie Henry, David Ross, Jacqui Kerr, Emma Law, Stephen Makin, Alison Mckean, Tom C Russ, Lucy Stirland, Susan Deborah Shenkin, Jennifer Kirsty Burton, Terence J QuinnAbstract
Background
Dementia is a global challenge, but benefits from local, context-specific evidence. With finite resource, and numerous potential research directions, formal priority setting can help develop equitable and relevant research agendas. We used this approach to establish dementia and brain health research priority questions for Scotland.
Methods
A steering board of professionals and experts through lived experience guided the process, following established research prioritisation frameworks. Research questions were collected through surveys and refined to create an interim list. This was further rationalised through Delphi-style ranking involving cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral interest-holders. After reaching consensus, each research question was assessed for potential impact.
Results
Between April and July 2025, 706 participants submitted 2677 questions. These were consolidated into an interim list of 142 questions. Two ranking rounds (n = 242, n = 252) reduced the list to 20 questions (10 brain health, 10 dementia). Interest-holders included people living with cognitive impairment (n = 48, 6·8%), current or previous caregivers (n = 217, 30·7%), public contributors (n = 261, 37·0%), and professionals (n = 134, 19·0%). Risk reduction was a leading brain health priority, while early diagnosis was a top dementia priority. Research around brain resilience and improving dementia care pathways was selected as having greatest potential impact.
Conclusion
We established Scotland-specific research priorities for brain health and dementia, which we advocate to researchers, funders and decision-makers. Our national research prioritisation exercise received engagement from diverse interest-holders, ensuring a range of voices will inform future research.