Ruben Muñiz Schwochert is the son of a nurse and a surgeon to whom he is deeply thankful. He is now an entrepreneur with a passion for applied research.

Early in his career, Mr. Muñiz gathered 11 years of experience in Marketing, Sales, Market Research and Advertising & Media while working as a salesperson, as a strategic planner in a multinational ad-agency and as a group product manager for international fast moving consumer goods.

Mr. Muñiz started his career as an entrepreneur 16 years ago, partially as a psychological experiment and partially as an outcome of a self financed study on caregiver needs. It was then that he started in the Alzheimer day care and nursing home industry.

In 1999 he founded the Maria Wolff Foundation which is named for his
grandmother. It is an organization devoted to researching ways of improving the lives of people with dementia and those that care for them. Most of his time and efforts are now devoted to catalyze or direct research.

In 2007 he founded another company, now actively working to improve dementia care in nursing homes.

PUBLICATIONS:

INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS:

Muñiz R, Morillas N, Olazarán J, González MJ, Neira M, Perea M. Group management of dementia patients in a day-care center. International Psychogeriatrics 2000; 12 (Suppl 1): 367-372.

Olazarán J, Muñiz R, Reisberg R, Peña-Casanova J, del Ser T, Cruz-Jentoft
AJ, Serrano P, Navarro E, García de la Rocha ML, Frank A, Galiano M, Fernández- Bullido Y, Serra JA, González-Salvador MT, Sevilla C. Benefits of cognitive-motor intervention in MCI and mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology 2004; 63: 2348-2353.

Olazarán J, Muñiz R. Cognitive intervention in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Research and Practice in Alzheimer’s Disease 2006; 11: 376-80.

Olazarán J, Reisberg B, Clare L, Cruz I, Peña-Casanova J, del Ser T, Woods B, Beck C, Auer S, Lai C, Spector A, Fazio S, Bond J, Kivipelto M, Brodaty H, Rojo JM, Collins H, Teri L, Mittelman M, Orrell M, Feldman H, Muñiz R. Non-pharmacological Therapies in Alzheimer’s disease: A systematic review of efficacy. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders 2010 in press.

Muñiz R, Olazarán J, Poveda S, Lago P, Peña-Casanova J. NPT-ES: a measure of the experience of people with dementia during non-pharmacological interventions. Non Pharmacological Therapies in Dementia 2010 in press

León-Salas B, Olazarán J, Muñiz R, González-Salvador MA, Martínez-Martín P. Caregivers’ estimation of patients’ quality of life (QoL) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD): An approach using the ADRQL. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2010 Jun 21. [Epub ahead of print]

ARTICLES IN SPANISH:

Olazarán J, Muñiz R. El papel de los centros de día en el tratamiento de los trastornos neuroconductuales crónicos. Actualizaciones en Neurología, Neurociencias y Envejecimiento 2003; 1: 277-281.

Muñiz R, Olazarán J, Tárraga L, Boada M. Intervenciones no farmacológicas. Medicina Clínica (Monográfico) 2004; 5: 82-85.

Muñiz Schwochert R, Olazarán Rodríguez J. Terapias no farmacológicas: una nueva forma de tratar el Alzheimer. Crítica 2006; 932: 32-5.

BOOK CHAPTERS:

Olazarán J, González Ma J, Amador B, Morillas N, Muñiz R. Recursos sociosanitarios para la atención a la demencia: hacia un modelo centrado en la enfermedad. En: Bermejo Pareja F, director. Aspectos familiares y sociales del paciente con demencia. Madrid: Díaz de Santos, 2004: 27-40.

Olazarán Rodríguez J, Muñiz Schwochert R. Estimulación cognitiva posible
y recomendable. En: Martínez Lage JM, del Ser Quijano T, editores. Alzheimer 2004: la pragmática necesaria. Madrid: Aula Médica; 2004: 361-374.

Muñiz R, Olazarán J, Amador B, González MJ, Morillas N, Apesteguía L. La atención sociosanitaria de la demencia en la Comunidad de Madrid. En: Bermejo Pareja F, coordinador. Libro Blanco sobre la demencia y enfermedad de Alzheimer. Madrid: Siglo; 2005: 55-71.

Muñiz R, Olazarán J. Qué son las Terapias No Farmacológicas. Tratamientos y terapias no farmacológicas en la enfermedad de Alzheimer, AULA DIEZ 5a Serie 2009.