Dementia Resources

In 2024, the Alzheimer’s Society reported that one in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime. Its report shows that around a million people in the UK have a form of dementia. This is projected to rise to 1.4 million people by 2040. Alzheimer’s
disease and dementia are becoming a major burden on health and social care resources, as well as a financial and social cost to families who struggle to care for their loved ones. The report commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society in 2024 revealed that dementia costs in the UK equal £42 billion per year. This is set to rise sharply to £90 billion by 2040. Here, Annette Duck, retired interstitial lung disease specialist nurse, gives a personal account of how she and her family were let down by health and social care services with regards to their father’s care and discusses the evidence and guidelines to see what might have helped and supported them to care for their father.

There are an increasing number of people being diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a life-limiting condition for which there is currently no effective treatment or cure to alter its progressive course. UK dementia policy has tended to focus on living well with dementia and less so on dying well with dementia, and there is a consistent difficulty in recognising when a person with dementia enters the end-of-life phase. The disease trajectory of  dementia is noted as being unpredictable, especially when compared to those of other terminal conditions and, in addition, when there are other lifethreatening conditions comorbid to the dementia. This paper uses two anonymised case studies that consider dying with and dying from dementia respectively, and offers rationales to support better
recognition of dying for quality end-of-life care

As a GP, I see a lot of people with dementia and their carers, and I also see those who are concerned that they may have dementia. These numbers have increased significantly since Covid, as people avoided seeing their GP and did not come forward if they had concerns.

The population is ageing and so we are seeing an increase in the prevalence and incidence of age-related conditions, such as frailty and dementia. These two conditions can often go ‘hand in hand’, making it important to ensure appropriate recognition, assessment and then management of each when experienced together. This paper uses a case study approach to illustrate and discuss the issues as relating to community nurse practice.

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a group of symptoms characterised by behavioural changes, loss of cognitive and social functioning brought about by progressive neurological disorders. It is estimated that around one million people live with a dementia in the UK, with that figure set to rise to 1.2 million by the year 2040. We are learning more about the risk factors for developing dementia over the life course. This paper discusses the non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors for dementia and considers health promotion and health education activities that can be used by community nurses.

Due to its progressive nature, dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales, so a palliative approach to care is beneficial because of its emphasis on supportive care. Many people with dementia also have other comorbid health conditions common
in older age, that in themselves may induce pain. However, people with dementia may have difficulty in understanding what they are feeling and in describing and locating the pain due to having issues with communicating their needs as their dementia progresses. This paper considers the recognition, assessment, treatment and management of pain in older people with dementia. It introduces the learner to what is known about the subject  and why it is important to know the person’s past history and previous ways of self-managing pain and discomfort using information gained from their family, carers and friends.

Storytelling is the act of telling or writing stories, or narratives. Typically, stories are told for entertainment, for informational or educational purposes. Telling stories and storymaking is integral to our human consciousness and lived experience

It is estimated that there are currently 944,000 older people living with dementia in the UK, and that 593,200 of those people are living with advanced symptoms. People living with advanced dementia have a significantly higher prevalence of pressure ulcers (PUs), compared to those living without dementia with similar comorbidities. The care and support required to prevent pressure ulcers in people living with dementia needs to be individualised, following a holistic and person-centred assessment of the person and their unique circumstances. An improved understanding of the increased risk and causal factors of developing pressure ulcers in high risk groups, such as people living with advanced dementia, can support practitioners to conduct a more through and person-centred risk assessment and management plan, including choosing the most appropriate products to meet a person’s needs.

Over the past decade, the author believes that society has begun to awaken to the
transformative power music can have both for those living with dementia, and those who care for them. There have been a number of viral news stories which have really captured the nation’s hearts and brought us all to tears — think of Paul Harvey with his beautiful Four Notes improvisation and Marta C Gonzalez, a forma prima ballerina living with Alzheimer’s who became animated listening to Swan Lake.

The number of people with dementia is expected to increase with a consequential effect on the wellbeing of families and increasing pressure on an already over-burdened health and social care system. Risk factors for dementia, both modifiable and non-modifiable,
if appropriately understood and identified are amenable to management and amelioration. Community and primary care nurses are in an ideal position to support the reduction and management of risk pre and post dementia diagnosis. Using a case study, this paper highlights some of the issues in identifying, assessing and managing risk in a person with an existing diagnosis of dementia and their family/carer. The potential for dementia-related risks to escalate can have a much wider impact on a family unit if not appropriately identified, managed and mitigated against.