In the last three centuries, Slovakia was a country of emigration¹. Migratory waves were mainly influenced by the first and second world wars². From 1950 to 1989, there were large migratory movements between the present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. Slovakia experienced a net migration loss of 230,000 inhabitants. However, succeeding historical events contributed to a further increase in migration, including the collapse of the communist regime in the late 1980s; the foundation the Slovak Republic on January 1, 1993³; and Slovakia's accession to the EU (2004) and the Schengen area (2007). Most migrants in 2013 came from the Czech Republic, followed by Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland⁴. Between 1990 and 2019, the migrant population (born abroad), and the proportion of migrants in the total population more than quadrupled (41,300 to 188,000; 0.8 to 3.4%)⁵. Currently, Slovakia is mainly a transit country for migrants from Eastern Europe⁶.

There are 38,200 people with a migration background aged 65 or older. Of those, approx. 1,500 are estimated to exhibit some form of dementia. Calculations show the most affected migrant groups presumably originate from the Czech Republic (approx. 600), Hungary (approx. 500), Ukraine (approx. 90), France (approx. 70) and Poland (approx. 60)⁷.

For Slovakia, no national dementia plan and national guidelines for dementia care were identified. According to a high-ranking representative of the Slovak healthcare system, a document on combating dementia (‘Slovakia Against Dementia’) is being prepared⁸.