Help & Care

The Government is to produce the first ever national dementia strategy in response to one of the great challenges now facing society.

The project was announced by Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis on 6 August 2007.  In making the announcement, Mr Lewis stated that:

“The scale of our ambition must now meet the scale of the challenge as demographic realities mean dementia will impact on an increasing number of families in our society. The current system is failing too many dementia sufferers and their carers".

“I am determined that this disease is brought out of the shadows. We need to minimise the shame and fear associated with dementia so that people and their relatives feel able to seek support at the earliest possible stage in the knowledge they will get expert help and be treated with dignity and respect”.

Detailed content of the 12 month work programme will be determined as it evolves.  However, the workstreams will cover the following themes:

Improved awareness

There is currently a general low level of public and indeed professional understanding of dementia.  There is also a widespread mis-attribution of symptoms to “old age” and a resultant unwillingness by some of those suffering from dementia, and their families, to seek help.  This can be echoed in non-specialist professional groups, with a false view that there is little or nothing that can be done to assist people with dementia and their carers.  There also remains within society a real problem of stigma and fear associated with dementia which can delay early diagnosis and the accessing of good quality care.

The programme of work on awareness will therefore focus on:

• developing a better understanding of dementia by public and professionals alike;
• ensuring that better information is provided on how to seek help and what help and treatment is available; and
• tackling the stigma and misunderstandings that currently exist.
  
  

Early diagnosis and intervention

Currently only a third of people with dementia receive a formal diagnosis at any time in their illness.  When diagnoses are made, it is often too late for those suffering from the illness to make choices.  Alternatively diagnoses are often made at a time of crisis, a crisis that could have been avoided if diagnosis had been made earlier. 

The programme in this area will therefore concentrate on ensuring that effective services for early diagnosis and intervention are available in future on a nationwide basis. 

Improving the quality of care for dementia

Recent reports have emphasised the need to enhance joint health and social care mental health teams in the community so people with dementia and their families and carers receive the support they need.  Intermediate care services also need to improve so that alternatives to hospital admission are available, and early discharge from acute and mental health hospitals is possible for people with dementia. We also we need improved systems to manage people with acute confusion and dementia during emergency and acute care, and to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital because of a lack of alternatives. 

Therefore, this area of the programme will focus on improving liaison services that can enable effective management in hospital and intermediate care. It will also focus on building better skills and understanding of dementia in the health and social care workforce so that all those working with older people develop core skills in this area.

Timeframe and management of the project

The programme will take 12 months to complete. It will be fully supported in its work by the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) who will work with services and commissioners to deliver improvements at a local level in the immediate term, as well as ensuring that the strategy is fully implemented in the longer term.

The project will be led by a programme board to oversee the internal governance of the work. Content of the detailed work programme will determined by an external stakeholder group, chaired by Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society. This group will include a range of key stakeholders including Age Concern, Help the Aged, Action on Elder Abuse and others.

Management of the work programme will be led by Prof. Sube Banjeree, Professor of Mental Health and Ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and Clinical Director for Mental Health of Older Adults in the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and Jenny Owen, Executive Director of Adults, Health and Community Wellbeing in Essex and Joint Chair of the ADASS Older People's Committee. Professor Louis Appleby, National Director for Mental Health and Professor Ian Philp, National Director for Older People will also offer support and guidance to the work programme.