The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises Dementia as a public health priority. Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia, with just over half living in low- and middle-income countries. People with dementia are frequently denied the basic rights and freedoms available to others. The Centre has worked to support improvements in access to diagnostic services, care in hospital, understanding different health outcomes, health policy issues and general practice issues for people with dementia. The Centre is involved in a body of work which aims to increase our understanding of issues surrounding the timing of the diagnosis of dementia for individuals and their caregivers, and to use this to help frame health policy into the next decade. It is also developing specific quality indicators to assist in monitoring and improving care of people with dementia.
This work is led by Dr Melinda Martin-Khan.