What is dementia?

Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning, (thinking, remembering and reasoning) to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Some people with dementia experience alterations in sensory perception (such as hallucinations); some cannot control their emotions and their personalities may change.

Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage when the person will be completely dependent on others for basic activities of living.

NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) July 2021 

There are estimated to be 944,000 people living in the UK with dementia, by 2050 this figure is expected to rise to 1.6 million people.

In Gloucestershire, there are:

  • Around 6,200 people aged 65 and above who have been diagnosed with dementia
  • Just over 150 people who have been diagnosed with young onset dementia (aged under 65 years)
  • Around 3,500 more people are estimated to be living in the county with dementia but undiagnosed
  • By 2025 it is estimated that almost 11,250 people will be living with dementia in the county, rising to around 13,000 people by 2030.

Gloucestershire’s Dementia Strategy (2023-28)

Gloucestershire’s Integrated Care System Dementia Strategy seeks to promote dementia positive communities and enable the delivery of a personalised proactive approach to delivering support and care to help prevent, slow, or reduce the impact of dementia. We aim to provide this at a local community and neighbourhood level to ensure that wherever you live in the county, you will have access to information, care and support that is appropriate for you.

Gloucestershire is committed to ensuring that people living with dementia and their carers receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Our strategy aligns with the NHS England Well Pathway framework for dementia which has 5 key priorities:

Preventing Well – risk of people developing dementia is minimised

Diagnosing Well – timely, accurate diagnosis, care plan and review within the first year

Supporting Well – access to safe high-quality health and social care, community and third sector support for people with dementia and their carers

Living Well – people with dementia and their carers can live in safe and accepting communities

Dying Well – people living with dementia die with dignity in the place of their choosing

Read the strategy (and easy read version) via the publications page.

Resources

Working in partnership with our colleagues across health and social care, the independent and voluntary sectors, Gloucestershire has developed a number of initiatives to support people living with dementia and their carers under each element of the Well pathway for dementia:

Preventing Well

Diagnosing Well

Supporting Well

Living Well