08.11.12
One million ‘Dementia Friends’ to tackle isolation
Plans have been announced today to tackle the challenge of dementia, including the introduction of the Dementia Friends scheme to increase awareness and forge friendships based upon a new understanding of the condition.
Prime minister David Cameron and health secretary Jeremy Hunt have announced free awareness sessions to be held to improve everyday life for those with dementia, by altering people’s attitudes.
The £2.4m project, funded by the Social Fund and the Department of Health, will give each Dementia Friend a ‘forget-me-not’ badge to indicate their awareness of dementia, and this same symbol will be used to highlight organisations and communities that are dementia-friendly. The goal is to enable those with the condition to feel less isolated.
The project goes hand in hand with the PM’s Dementia Challenge programme, and a progress report for the latter has also been published today.
The Government plans to devote £9.6m for dementia research in order to expand the UK Biobank and allow scientists to learn more about the condition. Further support will be provided to help GPs easily diagnose and manage dementia, including the new necessity for doctors to enquire about the memories of patients aged between 65 and 74 as part of a standard health check.
£1m funding will be awarded to NHS organisations who successfully increase diagnosis of dementia and the Government will also bestow £50m to care homes and hospitals designed for those with the condition.
Cameron stated: “We cannot underestimate the challenge we face in dealing with dementia in our country. Through the Dementia Friends project we will for the first time make sure a million people know how to spot those tell-tale signs and provide support.”
Hunt echoed these sentiments and underlined the problem: “Too many people with dementia feel cut off, lonely and fearful without the support and understanding they need.”
Jeremy Hughes, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We want to rally a million people behind the cause of helping make a better life for people with dementia.
“I am confident we will not only meet this target but beat it. Dementia is everyone's problem and we all need to be part of the solution.”
These efforts are being concentrated with a view to double the rate of successful diagnosis to 80%, a target created by Cameron earlier this year. It is hoped that increased awareness of the condition together with funding will “make a real difference to people’s lives,” as Dr Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said about the scheme.
From today it will be possible to register interest in becoming a Dementia Friend through the Dementia Friends website or by texting Friend to 88080. The scheme is led by the Alzheimer’s Society, who estimates that by 2015 1 million people will have become a Dementia Friend.
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