What is Dementia Action Week?
Dementia Action Week is an awareness raising campaign. Each year, we work with individuals and organisations across the UK to encourage people to ‘act on dementia’.
In 2022, Dementia Action Week encouraged people who are concerned that they or someone they know may be experiencing dementia symptoms to seek further help. We provided information on memory loss, advice on talking to the GP, and ways to cope with memory loss.
Throughout the week, we saw a 43% average increase in calls to our dementia support line from those seeking information and support.
If you or a loved one are experiencing memory loss, it could be a sign of something more serious. Our advice will help you understand if your symptoms are related to dementia.
What will be the focus for 2023?
Increasing diagnosis rates is such an important issue that we’re focusing on it again this year.
Following a sustained drop in dementia diagnosis rates for the first time ever, we undertook research to understand the key barriers and benefits to getting a diagnosis.
As well as the misconception around memory loss just being part of getting old, our research found being in denial, and referral times to specialists, are big barriers for those experiencing symptoms to seek a diagnosis.
Getting a diagnosis can be daunting, but we believe it’s better to know. And so do 91% of people affected by dementia.
This Dementia Action Week, we’ll be involving more healthcare professionals and building on the success of our symptoms checklist. By working together, we want to improve people’s diagnosis experience and ensure they get a timely diagnosis.
Where can I find more information on memory loss and diagnosis?
It’s important that those who are concerned that they or someone close to them might be experiencing signs of dementia continue to come to us for guidance and support.
This includes reading our new information on memory loss and diagnosis, using our symptoms checklist to help describe symptoms to GPs, and watching first-hand stories from people living with and affected by dementia on the benefits of getting a diagnosis.
