Dementia research

Alzheimer's Society position statement

The Society believes that the involvement of people with dementia and their carers will lead to better quality research.

The Society's award-winning research programme is committed to spending at least £1 million a year on dementia research on the themes of cause, cure and care.

Background

The Alzheimer's Society is the leading care and research charity for people with dementia in the UK. Through its Quality Research in Dementia (QRD) programme, the Society supports and promotes research in three key areas: cause, cure and care. The programme is unique because, for the first time, people with dementia and their carers are actively involved in setting the research agenda, awarding grants and assessing outcomes.

Quality Research in Dementia influences the direction of basic scientific research, care practice, health and social policy for the benefit of people with dementia and their families. Research covers the effectiveness of drugs, therapies and care practices, and the health and social impact of dementia on carers or the community at large. The programme also funds and evaluates research on the basic science of dementia and contributes to the long term search for prevention, treatments and cure. In 2004, 19 research projects were ongoing.

Results from projects funded at least in part by the Alzheimer's Society include the discovery of the first ever genetic mutation for Alzheimer's disease and the production of an educational CD-ROM to improve primary care practitioners' knowledge about dementia.

Quality Research in Dementia

Builds on the Alzheimer's Society's current expenditure of £3.6 million on research, committing the Society to raising an additional £1 million per year for research
Matches its research agenda to the real needs of people with dementia and their carers
Actively involves people with dementia and carers in setting priorities for research and measuring the success of outcomes
Works closely with its international partners in Europe and America, including the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Institute.

Rapid progress is being made in dementia research and the Society is committed to promoting research findings.

Although the international pharmaceutical industry is investing billions of pounds annually in the quest for effective drugs treatments for Alzheimer's disease, there is still an acute need for independent research. Research sponsored by pharmaceutical companies tends to be highly specific and focused on the development of drugs. Independent research, including psychosocial research, is vital if the lives of people with dementia and their carers are to be improved.

The Society campaigns for:

More money to be spent on dementia research to step up the search for causes and a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia
Research findings to be made widely available and easily accessible
Greater involvement of people with dementia and their carers in the design and implementation of research. Their participation helps to ensure that the best interests of people with dementia remain a priority in all research.