‘The condition of thousands with dementia worsened’

PEOPLE with dementia have been very badly hit by the pandemic, not only in terms of deaths from the virus itself, but also from the knock-on effects of successive lockdowns – put starkly, the pandemic laid bare the depth of the social care crisis for all to see.

We’ve heard from thousands of people with dementia as well as from their families. People with dementia have been devastated by the loss of usual routines and activities, reduced health and care services and being left on their own for so long without being able to see friends and family – causing their condition to rapidly deteriorate. These people may need support earlier than they would have otherwise, and this comes on top of a treatment backlog – it is estimated that around 30,000 fewer diagnoses than expected have taken place.

Dementia is the biggest non-communicable health challenge facing the world today, yet there is just 31p spent on dementia research for every £1 on cancer research in the UK. However, dementia research, despite chronic underfunding, had been gaining momentum and starting to deliver some really exciting results, but the impact of the pandemic has been devastating – over half of our researchers had stopped part or all of their research back in January.

Like many charities, we’ve taken a hit financially while people have needed us more than ever before. Our experts on the frontline have heard from so many families in crisis and our support services have been used more than 6 million times since March 2020. The road to recovery for people affected by dementia will be long and tough, so the need for the public’s support has never been more important.