Global Brain Health Survey

Between June 2019 and August 2020, Lifebrain conducted the Global Brain Health Survey (GBHS) to collect data on people’s perceptions of brain health and willingness to take care of their brain by adopting new lifestyles. The survey was conducted online and translated into 14 languages to reach as many people as possible. In total, it collected 27,590 responses from people in 81 countries.

 

Why a Global Brain Health Survey?

“The brain is probably our most important organ. It is therefore critically important to understand what motivates and demotivates people to take care of their brain. We hope to use the survey results to develop useful policy recommendations, which is a core objective of Lifebrain “ says researcher Isabelle Budin Ljøsne who leads the survey as part of the work conducted in the Stakeholder Engagement work package of Lifebrain.

The Global Brain Health Survey not only explores people’s interest in brain health, it also investigates what people purposefully do for their brain health, how motivated they are to take tests to learn about their brain health, which activities they are willing (or not willing) to engage in for their brain health, and what kind of support they would need to make lifestyle changes. The survey respondents are also asked to select public health measures they see as most efficient to promote brain health.

The survey is led by the Lifebrain consortium and is executed in collaboration with national brain councils in Norway, Germany, and Belgium, the Brain Foundation Netherlands, the Swedish Brain Foundation, the Women’s Brain Project, and the National University of Ostroh Academy in Ukraine.

For more information about the survey design, have a look at our study protocol paper.

Thanks to all!

“We collected many more answers to the survey than we could ever dream of. We received fantastic help from our co-organizers and stakeholders to disseminate the survey among a variety of channels including social media, websites and newsletters. The researchers in Lifebrain brilliantly played the role of ambassadors for the survey in their respective countries. We also experienced that people find brain health interesting, want to learn more about it, and are willing to help us by taking the survey. Many thanks to all for great help! ” says Isabelle. The organisations we would like to thank:


Brain Councils: Irish Brain Council, European Brain Council, French Brain Council, Norwegian Brain Council, German Brain Council, Belgian Brain Council, Brain Foundation Netherlands, Swedish Brain Foundation

Research registries: Brain Health Registry UCSF, Hersenonderzoek, Join Dementia Research UKAlzheimer's Prevention Registry

Research organisations/societies: Guttmann InstituteHungarian Neurological Society, European Congress for Neurologists, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA), Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias, Sociedad Española de Neurología, Hungarian Rep of EFPSA (European Federation of Psychology Students Associations), Hungarian Psychological Society, Multiple Sclerosis Research Group OsloCatalan Society of Neuropsychology, Spanish Society of Neuropsychology, Catalan Society of Biological Psychiatry, NIHR Clinical Research Network South London, Research for the Future

Patient organisations: The Parkinson Association in Belgium, The Organisation for the understanding of cluster headaches (OUCH) Belgium, The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health (GBHI), Kvinne SanitetsforeningenNasjonalforeningen for folkehelsens Hjerte- og karråd, Alzheimer Forening, Norges Parkinsonforbund, Prematurforeningen, Ligue nationale sclérose en plaques, Psykologiforbundet lokallagDana Foundation, Women's brain health initiative Canada, Alzheimerfonden, Riksföreningen hjärnkraft, Red Cross, Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau Paris, Parkinson's association in Maresme, Rådet for psykisk helse, Pensjonistforeningen, Catalan Institute of Aging, Down's Institute in Spain, Spanish Confederation of Alzheimer's disease associations (CEAFA), Foundation Multiple Sclerosis in Spain, Fundación GAEM, Catalan Mental Health Institute Lleida, Aninath FoundationTransforming Mental Health Through Research

Research cohorts: Cam-CAN, HUK, NCP, MoBa, NevDevOxford substudy of Whitehall II, WAHA cohorts in Spain, Barcelona Brain Health Initiative

Public authorities: Department of Health, Catalan government

Universities: National University of Ostroh Academy in UkraineUniversity of Padova, NeuroScience Lab University of DeustoL'Institut de recherche sur le cerveau - Universite d'Ottawa, NIHR BioResource for Translational Research, Insitute of Neurosciences University of Barcelona

Hospitals: Guttmann InstituteGereatriskt centrum, Umeå University Hospital, Psykiatri, Umeå University HospitalGeriatric Centre in TerrassaHospital de Sant Pau Neurology ServiceWorcestershire NHS R&D

Other organisations: Women`s Brain Project, Community Centre Sant Antoni, Barcelona, Share4brain project, ANSA Budapest, Researchmatch.org

Media: Sciencenordic.com, Videnskab.dk, NRK, Forskning.no


Results
How to promote people`s brain health? (public report)

What motivates people to take care of their brain health? (public report)

The Global Brain Health Survey: Development of a Multi-Language Survey of Public Views on Brain Health (scientific article)

Public perceptions of brain health: an international, online cross-sectional survey (scientific article)

The GBHS raw data (github account)