Irish Presidency Event – Breaking Down Silos: A Value-Driven Future for Brain Health and Care
26.10.2026 @ 08:00 - 18:30
Date: 26 October 2026, 09:00 – 18:00
Location: Irish National Stud & Gardens, Kildare, Ireland
A Value-Driven Future for Brain Health & Care is an interactive Policy World Café that will bring people with lived experience and carers together with policymakers, healthcare professionals, researchers, patient advocates, funders, innovators and industry representatives to shape practical recommendations for the future of brain health in Ireland and across Europe.
Taking place in the context of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union – and building on the momentum of key national and European gatherings – it will put diverse voices at the same table to move beyond discussion towards action. Through four facilitated, participatory challenges on lived experience, prevention, research-to-impact and value-driven care, participants will identify shared priorities, develop concrete recommendations and bring them directly into a closing policy dialogue.
The event will demonstrate how a more connected, people-centred approach to brain health can improve outcomes, strengthen health-system resilience and support coordinated progress across Europe.
Co-Organizers
This event is supported by Catalight
Important Information & Resources
What to expect
The event brings people with lived experience, carers, patient advocates, policymakers, clinicians, researchers, funders, innovators and industry representatives around the same table. Together, participants will identify practical ways to improve brain health and care in Ireland and across Europe – helping translate shared ambition into concrete recommendations for action.
Each table will include a diverse mix of perspectives, supported by a facilitator or table host. The aim is to ensure that every participant has an opportunity to contribute and that discussion leads to practical, usable outputs – not just conversation.
No. This event is designed around the principle that meaningful policy and care solutions require many forms of expertise.
Whether you bring lived experience of a brain condition, experience as a carer, clinical or research knowledge, policy insight, community expertise or an innovation perspective, your contribution is valued. You do not need to prepare a formal presentation or have specialist knowledge of every topic.
How the day works
The day combines short scene-setting contributions, facilitated roundtable discussions and expert-panel reflections.
For each of the four challenges, participants will:
- Hear a brief introduction to frame the issue.
- Join a facilitated roundtable discussion with a mixed group of participants.
- Identify the most important barriers and opportunities.
- Agree on priorities and develop practical recommendations.
- Share key messages with an expert panel, which will respond to common themes and consider how recommendations can be taken forward.
The day will conclude with a final panel discussion, From Momentum to Action, bringing together the key recommendations developed across the four challenges.
Participants will be assigned to roundtables to ensure that each table brings together a broad mix of experiences and expertise. Further details on table arrangements and the final flow of the day will be shared closer to the event.
Each roundtable will have a host or facilitator to keep the conversation focused, inclusive and action-oriented. They will help the group move from sharing experiences to identifying a clear problem, a concrete opportunity and recommendations that can realistically be implemented.
The discussions will follow a simple structure:
- Start: identify the issue that matters most.
- Explore: map the main barriers and opportunities.
- Prioritise: agree on the most urgent issue and most promising opportunity.
- Recommend: develop practical proposals, including who needs to act.
- Share: prepare two to three key takeaways for the panel discussion.
We ask participants to come ready to share their perspective, listen openly to others and help shape practical solutions.
You will not be asked to give a formal speech. Instead, you may be invited to contribute to questions such as:
- What is the most important problem we need to address?
- What is already working, and where is the strongest opportunity for progress?
- What should change in practice, policy, research or care?
- Who needs to lead action – and who needs to be involved?
- What would make the biggest difference for people affected by brain conditions?
By the end of each discussion, each table will aim to produce:
- One clear problem statement.
- One concrete opportunity.
- Two prioritised recommendations.
- A proposed lead actor and key partners.
- An immediate first step towards implementation.
- One key implementation risk and a possible way to address it.
The four challenges
This session will explore how people with lived experience and carers can be placed at the centre of policy and care. Discussions will consider unmet needs, barriers to quality of life and what needs to change from diagnosis through to long-term support and care.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we place lived experience at the centre of policy and care?
- What are the most pressing unmet needs for people living with brain disorders today – from diagnosis to long-term care?
- What barriers most affect quality of life for people living with neurological or mental disorders?
Guiding Questions:
- How can we improve prevention and early intervention across the life course?
- How can we empower citizens to become active participants in brain health?
- How can we better address education, environment and lifestyle factors?
This session will consider how to better connect research, innovation, communities and decision-makers so that advances reach people faster and more equitably. Discussions will address digital and innovation enablers, engagement with local actors and communities, and opportunities to improve health equity in Ireland and Europe.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we strengthen collaboration between researchers, clinicians, policymakers, industry and communities to accelerate brain research and impact?
- How can research be better shaped by local actors, patient communities and lived experience to improve relevance and reach?
The final challenge will explore what “value” in brain health and care should mean for people, families, clinicians, health systems and society. Participants will consider how care pathways can be improved and how more integrated, person-centred care can support wellbeing and quality of life.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we make sure that brain health is recognised as an important part of living well and maintaining a good quality of life?
- How can we make it easier for people with brain conditions to get the right care, at the right time, from the right services?
Supporting Organizations
