Dementia

Leicester Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). Health and social care needs associated with dementia, 2016.

Dementia describes a set of symptoms, including memory loss, mood changes, and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms are more severe than those experienced in normal ageing. The severity of dementia can be categorised as mild, moderate or severe.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for more than 60% of all cases; dementia related to vascular disease is the next most frequent form (17%). A further 10% of cases are related to a combination of the two.

Dementia UK estimates a prevalence of dementia for the population of England of 1.1% (1.1 in 100 people will be affected by dementia at a given time).

Risk factors include age and genetics, but also medical conditions and lifestyle choices such as smoking and exercise.

The following chapter further details the level of need in the population, current services in place, project service use, any service gaps and recommendations for commissioners.