National Dementia Strategy for England

Introduction

The Department of Health has launched the first ever National Dementia Strategy for England. Alzheimer's Society worked closely with the government to develop the Strategy.

What is the National Dementia Strategy?

The Strategy is the government's plan which explains what needs to happen to radically transform the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers in the next five years.

The Dementia Strategy sets out 17 recommendations that the government wants the NHS, local authorities and others to take to improve dementia care services. The recommendations are focused on three key themes of:

Raising awareness and understanding
Early diagnosis and support
Living well with dementia

The government announced an extra investment of £150 million to support local services deliver the Strategy.

Will the National Dementia Strategy make a difference?

Alzheimer's Society believes the Strategy will make an incredible difference to the lives of people with dementia and their carers if it is implemented. It offers a huge opportunity to put people with dementia in control of their lives by making sure they have access to an early diagnosis, good quality information and a range of support services throughout their journey with dementia.

It should also translate into better public and professional understanding of dementia and better quality of care in hospitals, care homes and people's own homes.

Transforming dementia care within five years is a huge task and will require commitment from a range of organisations and people, including the NHS and local authorities, providers, charities, health and social care professionals and the government. It is vital that delivery of the Dementia Strategy is made a high priority.

New report

In recognition of the problems faced by people with dementia and their carers in accessing the information they need, objective three of the National Dementia Strategy for England is 'Good-quality information for those with diagnosed dementia and their carers. Providing people with dementia and their carers with good-quality
information on the illness and on the services available both at diagnosis and throughout the course of their care.'

The Department of Health (DH) asked Alzheimer's Society to work with stakeholders to research the information needs of people with dementia. They asked Alzheimer's Society to make recommendations about what actions should be taken to enable them to:

take forward implementation of the objective at a national level
support local areas to improve provision of information regarding local services and support for people with dementia.

This report presents findings from that research. It makes recommendations for action at a national level, but it is hoped that the evidence will be helpful in work done at a local level to meet the information needs of people with dementia and carers.