Already in 2015 there is a lack of care workers and care facilities . Within the next 25 years as the numbers double where are we heading in areas like careing for people with Dementia .

Where Are We Heading With Big AL
By Paul McCann


Does the need for more aged care facilities and nursing staff outweigh the benefits of public awareness and the ethical implications in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

The funding drum of the Government has become a beat the general public has to dance to under the Alzheimer’s awareness banner .Working together using a push pull method is a great way to get things done and the key behind recent funding in dementia by the UK government . With the impact of celebrity support like Terry Prachett and various public profiles of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s , it has triggered a surge of donations from the public . Along with a steady trickle flow from the Government , the fight against Big Al or the condition known as Alzheimer’s has just begun . Worldwide costs of dementia are enormous and distributed inequitably. There is considerable potential for cost increases in coming years as the diagnosis and treatment gap is reduced. There is also likely to be a trend in low- and middle-income countries for social care costs to shift from the informal to the formal sector, with important implications for future aggregated costs and the financing of long-term care. Only by investing now in research and the development of cost-effective approaches to early diagnosis and care can future societal costs be anticipated and managed. Research and funding are two ways to combat Alzheimer’s disease, education and public awareness also play a role in dealing with and understanding this neurological condition in which there is a substantial decline in a person’s cognitive abilities (memory, executive function, language, etc.) from a previous higher level to the extent that the person is no longer able to independently perform everyday activities.

The British Government have set aside funding for a project called Friends of dementia . This project would involve training volunteers out in the community who would be able to identify and assist people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia out there in the community who may be at risk living with their condition . These friends would include family members , bus and taxi drivers , shop assistants and other members of the general public . This ethical approach by the UK government to combat dementia has many facets . One of those is public awareness in this fight to beat the condition and another is understanding and accepting a condition that once was taboo . With friends of dementia trying to support and assist in their community and the governments providing funding maybe there is a pathway to find a solution . It is a walk into the unknown , like Moses leading a multitude through a wilderness hoping to find the promised land where Alzheimer’s disease has been left behind .

In the UK David Cameron has called for Britain to lead the fight against dementia, amid fears the number living with the disease in the UK will soar to two million by 2050. Alzheimer’s Australia predict an that one million Australians by the year 2050.
The World Alzheimer Report 2010 estimated that there were 36 million people with dementia in 2010, with an expected doubling every 20 years to nearly 115 million in 2050 These sobering figures are based on assumptions that the age-adjusted prevalence of dementia would remain constant . Already in 2014 there is a lack of care workers and care facilities . Within the next 25 years as the numbers are predicted to rise will be in shortfall . Based on an increasing number of people with dementia it is clear to see that something other than time consuming research and training volunteers is needed .



Letts take a look at the ethical and financial aspects of caring for people with dementia and the need to provide better care in the future for the growing number of people who will be in need of full time care . There is a great need to have more professionally trained staff working within more accredited aged care facilities . Families and friends may try to help an increasing number of people with dementia but it will be an enormous strain coping with the behavioural issues and other areas of high care aspects in caring daily for dementia sufferers due to a degenerative condition of the brain that presents clinically in a gradual loss of memory and other cognitive functions usually in late life . Prevalence, the proportion of living dementia cases in the population, is the primary frequency measure used to describe the public health burden . In conclusion Governments and tax payers should never measure the cost when it comes to caring for our older generation who will be living with Alzheimer’s . Thus, consistent and reliable care are a necessity in dealing with rather than detecting incident cases .

By Paul McCann



The End