Addressing Dementia Diagnosis: A Brief Overview for Dementia Action Week
Addressing Dementia Diagnosis: A Brief Overview for Dementia Action Week Esra Hassan The theme of this year’s Dementia Action Week (15 th – 21 st May 2023) is diagnosis . Currently, there are 900,000 people living with dementia in the United Kingdom. Dementia Action Week attempts to encourage everyone to act, challenge dementia stigma and promote understanding and awareness of dementia. In this overview, I touch on the diagnosis rates of dementia in England and UK and some of the barriers that hinder access to dementia diagnosis. There is also a consideration for how adolescents may slot into the topic of dementia despite being an over-looked age group in this research space. Dementia is a term that encompasses a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain and characterized by a decline in cognitive ability and memory which affect a person’s daily functioning. Dementia can have a significant impact on memory, thinking, language and behaviour. There are several subtype...