Dementia has moved from the margins of public debate to the centre of the conversation as rates rise. Eilert Hinrichs analyses whether care homes are ready.
Any doubts that dementia has become a high priority issue in the UK were roundly dismissed when Baroness Louise Casey recently called for a dementia 'tsar' and the health secretary also expressed support for a stronger national dementia leadership role. Against this backdrop, it is clear how urgent this issue has become for the UK's care services.
As life expectancy rises and the population ages, the condition will be one of the defining challenges facing the UK's health and social care system for decades to come. For care home providers, this is not a distant policy issue or a future scenario. It is already shaping day-to-day operations, staffing pressures, design decisions and financial sustainability.
Around 900,000 people are now living with the condition in the UK, and an estimated 70 per cent of all care home residents are living with some form of dementia or severe memory problems.
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