Whether it’s one of your loved ones, your next-door neighbour, or your close friend, chances are that you probably know someone who lives with dementia.
In fact, 52 percent of the UK population, or 34.5 million people, know someone who has been diagnosed with dementia. As shocking as this statistic is, this number doesn’t even include the people we know who are living with undiagnosed dementia.
With more than 944,000 people in the UK and 55 million people worldwide who have dementia, this disease is a prominent phenomenon that needs to be properly diagnosed and addressed globally.
This is what Dementia Action Week is all about, and you can be a part of it.
Read on to learn more about Dementia Action Week, how Acorn Stairlifts is taking action to raise awareness and become more dementia friendly, and how you can participate in this campaign.
What is Dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for several diseases that destroy nerve cells, causing damage to the brain and typically leading to a deterioration in cognitive functioning that is beyond what is expected from the normal ageing process.
Mainly affecting older people, dementia is a syndrome that affects thinking, memory, and the ability to perform daily activities.
It is also a progressive disease, meaning that the illness will continue to get worse over time.
The most common form of dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s Disease, which makes up 60 to 70 percent of cases.
While there is no cure for dementia, a lot more action can be taken to improve the overall quality of life of both people living with dementia and those who care for them.
What is Dementia Action Week 2023?
Dementia Action Week is an Alzheimer’s Society campaign designed to raise awareness of people living with dementia, as well as encourage individuals, communities, and organisations across the UK to take action.
To this day, Dementia Action Week is Alzheimer’s Society’s largest and longest-running awareness campaign.
When is Dementia Action Week 2023?
This year, in 2023, Dementia Action Week starts on 15 May, running through 21 May.
What is the focus for Dementia Action Week 2023?
After a 43 percent average increase in calls to Alzheimer’s Society’s dementia support line from people seeking information and support last year during Dementia Action Week 2022, the focus of 2023 will remain on the importance of increasing diagnosis rates.
Many times, dementia goes undiagnosed due to a variety of reasons such as misinformation on what normal memory loss is as you age, people being in denial even when experiencing symptoms, and prolonged referral times to see a specialist.
Alzheimer’s Society believes that by increasing dementia diagnosis rates, as well as improving the diagnosis experience, more people will have access to the information and resources they need to understand their disease, seek further help, and better navigate dementia in their daily lives.
How Acorn Stairlifts Strives to be Dementia-Friendly
Here at Acorn Stairlifts, we don’t strive to only help small, specific demographics of people.
We set our sights high.
Rather, we strive to help everyone, regardless of their age, abilities, conditions, or limitations so that you can reach new heights in your life too.
This is why we care so much about learning about dementia, striving to be dementia friendly.
In fact, as a “new starter” induction, after watching short videos provided by the Dementia Friends charity organisation, Acorn encourages our employees to sign up to become a “Dementia Friend.”
These informational training videos help our staff, whether in the office or on the road, know how to react and effectively communicate in situations in which they come across someone living with dementia.
Currently, at Acorn Stairlifts UK, we already have over 600 members of our staff who are signed up to be a “Dementia Friend.”
Ways That Acorn Stairlifts Is Participating in Dementia Action Week 2023
Selling Pin Badges to the Community
This year, during Dementia Action Week 2023, Acorn Stairlifts will help raise awareness of dementia by selling pin badges to the local community at the supermarket Morrisons.
If you can't make it to Morrisons this year, you can receive the same pin badge that Acorn is selling by donating online here:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/forget-me-not-appeal
Attending a Dementia and Age Friendly Networking Event
Acorn will also be attending a Dementia and Age Friendly Networking Event to further our knowledge and help us become even more “dementia friendly.”
Resources For You to Learn More About Dementia and How to Get Diagnosed
If you want to learn more about dementia, the symptoms of dementia, how to care for people with dementia, or how to get diagnosed, check out the resources below:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dementia/symptoms/
To find out how you can get involved in Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Action Week, click on the link below:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/dementia-action-week