What is Dementia Action Week?

Across the country, Dementia Action Week is celebrated to raise awareness and generate action for Dementia. It is the Alzheimer's Society's largest campaign, working with different individuals and organisations across the country to encourage people to act on dementia.

Every year, Dementia Action Week has different aims, with this year's theme raising the profile of diagnosis with dementia. Dementia Action Week is a fantastic campaign, seeing a large 43% increase in calls to Dementia Connect Support Lines. 

So, why focus on diagnosis? With a sustained drop in dementia diagnosis rates for the first time in many years, research was carried out across the country to identify the key barriers to receiving a diagnosis.

With the majority of individuals misconceiving memory loss just being a part of getting older, the research identified that many individuals are in denial. However, over 91% of individuals affected by dementia said they preferred to know.

So, how did we play our part in Dementia Action Week?

CareYourWay celebrates Dementia Action Week:

Dementia Action Week is close to heart for the founders of CareYourWay, who cared for their own loved ones who suffered from dementia. With the Covid-19 pandemic leaving a dramatic impact on diagnosis rates, as well as the misconception of memory loss as we age, CareYourWay wanted to offer its specialist support and advice to the wider community.

To celebrate the week, individuals could contact and request a free home visit and were offered advice, support and assistance about dementia from a CareYourWay specialist. The scheme saw a surprising uptake, revealing a large number of individuals concerned about their loved ones' health. As we are not able to make a diagnosis, we worked with local communities to contact the necessary bodies, including their GPs, as well as a multitude of other support lines available.

CareYourWay also worked with their current client base to ensure families were able to understand dementia, as well as what to expect and how to make their loved one's quality of life as best as it can be.

Sarah Sabater, CEO of CareYourWay, said:

The Dementia Action Week event is a fantastic time to raise critical awareness of dementia. As someone who cared for their own mother, who had dementia for over 9 years, we know how confusing, frustrating and emotional dementia can be. For this reason, raising awareness and generating an understanding of what dementia can entail is so important.

We were delighted to see such an incredible uptake across our offices of individuals seeking advice and support, even when they weren't concerned, but wanted to know what to look out for in future.

We'd like to thank our teams, and our incredible community for all of their inclusion on events like these.

Are you concerned about memory loss?

Memory loss is not a normal part of ageing. There are multiple bodies that can offer support, both in identifying dementia and the steps moving forward. Please find these below:

• Alzheimer's Society.
• DementiaUK.
• Alzheimer's Research UK.
• National Health Service (NHS).

How CareYourWay can help:

If you are looking for care, our compassionate, personalised and dignified approach enables individuals to maintain a positive quality of life whilst retaining independence at home. Whilst there is no cure for dementia, its symptoms can be heavily reduced in a multitude of ways.

Find out more about our Dementia Care Services here.