Dementia Awareness Week

Dementia Awareness week is on 15th – 22nd May.

This year, Dementia Awareness week will be focused on encouraging those suffering with dementia to get a diagnosis.

Dementia diagnosis rates have stagnated, many are facing dementia alone, without access to the vital support that a diagnosis can bring.

This Dementia Action Week we’re encouraging individuals and their families to seek a timely diagnosis and avoid reaching crisis point.

Getting a diagnosis can be daunting, but we believe it’s better to know, and so do 91% of people living with dementia.

We want to encourage those who might be living with undiagnosed dementia to:

• Understand and recognise potential dementia symptoms

• Use Alzheimer’s Society for guidance and support

• Feel empowered to take their next step

• Improve the diagnosis process for both them and healthcare professionals.

Each person experiences dementia in their own individual way. Different types of dementia also tend to affect people differently, especially in the early stages.

Common early signs and symptoms of Dementia include:

• Memory loss – for example, problems recalling things that happened recently
• Difficulty concentrating, planning or organising – for example, struggling to make decisions, solve problems or follow a series of steps (such as cooking a meal)
• Problems with language and communication – for example, difficulties following a conversation or finding the right word for something
• Misunderstanding what is being seen – for example, problems judging distances (such as on stairs) or perceiving the edges of objects, and misinterpreting patterns or reflections
• Being confused about time or place – for example, losing track of the time or date, or becoming confused about where they are
• Mood changes or difficulty controlling emotions – for example, becoming unusually anxious, irritable, sad or frightened, losing interest in things and personality changes.