In a long-delayed announcement, the government has met its pledge to double dementia research funding to £160 million a year by 2024. Fulfilling the “Dementia Moonshot” promise made in the 2019 election manifesto, PM Boris Johnson said that £95 million would also be ring-fenced for a dementia taskforce along the lines of the UK Vaccines…
Two police officers are being investigated after firing a Taser at a care home resident with dementia who later died. Police were called to the Sussex care home following reports that 93-year-old Donald Burgess, who was in a wheelchair, had threatened staff with a knife. The officers are understood to have used a baton, pepper…
Vibrant Communities hosts live, online social groups for care home residents, including virtual tours of museums, galleries and landmarks, and it has lined up a varied calendar of events for the coming weeks. Among the highlights are Movement from your chair (31 August), Film Shoot: South Pacific (1 Sept), Desert Island Discs (2 Sept), Art…
A series of guides have been published for people with dementia on using voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home Hub. Written by Narinder Kapur, visiting professor of neuropsychology at UCL, the guides – Alexa for Alzheimer’s and Google Assistant for Alzheimer’s – are available on Amazon for £9.95. Research findings suggest voice assistants…
Unprecedented pressures on adult social care are resulting in waiting lists that are growing by 600 people a day, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) said. According to ADASS, almost 300,000 people are now waiting for an assessment of their needs by social workers, up by 44% in five months. One in…
Housing and care provider Anchor announced Lucie Cerna and Daliah Ifeanyi as the winners of its Apprenticeship Awards. Lucie, who works at Anchor’s Beech Hall care home in Leeds, bagged Apprentice of the Year, while Dahlia from the Kerrie Court care home in Birmingham got the Rising Star award. They beat dozens of finalists to…
Highlighting key achievements in 2021-22, NAPA’s new Annual Impact Report shows that membership grew as the activities charity focused on a digital approach during the pandemic. The report details how this digital approach enabled 3,200 members – up 6% on the previous year – to introduce new ways of working, gain access to practice development…
Findings from four separate studies, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in San Diego earlier this month, point to stark inequalities in dementia risk and have led to calls for government action to address them. “Bolder government action” is needed, said Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK), with the findings indicating that people who experience…
Waiting times for memory assessment services increased markedly during the pandemic, an audit conducted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists has indicated. Average waiting times from memory service referral to diagnosis increased by more than a third between 2019 and 2021, rising from 13 weeks to 17.7 weeks on average. The audit also indicated that…
Prescriptions for harmful antipsychotics leapt by 50% in dementia care during the pandemic, research led by Exeter University and King’s College London has found. The research, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in San Diego, showed that 28% of people with dementia in care homes had been prescribed antipsychotic medication compared with 18%…