Dementia Resources

As the number of people living with dementia continues to rise, finding simple and accessible ways to support wellbeing, connection and quality of life is increasingly important. New research into outdoor musical instruments in care settings suggests that combining music, play and access to the outdoors could offer valuable benefits for residents, families and care professionals.

Identifying when a person with dementia is nearing the end of their life can be challenging. Conversations about future care and planning for end of life in the form of advance care planning should take place as soon as possible after the diagnosis of dementia to enable the person to have the cognitive ability to express their wishes and preferences. To do so in an informed way requires professionals to discuss prognosis and what symptoms they may experience as their condition progresses and plan accordingly. When such early discussions have not taken place there are resources available that can be used to inform family carers of these symptoms and also processes to hold personalised meetings to discuss decisions for care. This article uses a case example to present a family care consultation, informed by the ‘Comfort Care Booklet’ in advanced dementia.

Access to expert clinical support for people affected by dementia across the spectrum of remote and rural to urban settings is not equitably distributed. This study explored an alternative nurse-led approach to this problem used in the Shetland Islands, to the north of the Scottish mainland. A purposive review of the literature set the scene and informed the objectives more fully, while giving shape to the research questions and preparing ground for data collection.

As of August 2025, half a million people in the UK have been diagnosed with dementia, according to NHS figures (NHS England, 2025). With numbers projected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040 (Alzheimer’s Society, 2024), innovative approaches to dementia care have never been more urgent. Dementia is now the leading cause of death in the UK and affects around 70% of care home residents (Alzheimer’s Society, n.d.). For families and caregivers, supporting loved ones through the challenges of the condition is a daily reality. Increasingly, attention is turning to sensory gardens — specialised outdoor spaces designed to engage the senses and promote wellbeing.

Dementia is a syndrome occurring as a result of brain disease, which is usually chronic or progressive in nature and ultimately a life-limiting condition. As discussed in the first article in this twopart series, in addition to cognitive decline, people diagnosed with dementia will also experience a gradual loss of function with a growing inability to perform basic activities of daily living, such as feeding, toileting and dressing (Kilroy-Findley and Harrison Dening, 2025). Dementia is often synonymous with ageing so people will also experience other comorbid conditions related to age, such as the effects of ageing skin and increased risk of frailty. In the advanced stages of dementia, the person may also experience immobility and poor nutrition and hydration, all of which are significant risk factors for developing pressure ulcers. This paper considers pressure ulcers in the context of a fictionalised case study based on clinical practice of a person with dementia, and explores patient assessment and care as well as treatment of pressure ulcers, reflecting on the literature.

Sundowning, a change in the behaviour of a person with dementia that appears in the evening or during the night, is a well-recognised occurrence in dementia care. The behaviours observed can be agitation, aggression, anxiety or those associated with delirium. This article uses case studies to illustrate the ways in which sundowning may present, and explores possible rationales, approaches and interventions that might be useful in supporting the person, family carers and caregivers.

Dementia is a syndrome occurring as a result of brain disease, which is usually chronic or progressive in nature and ultimately a lifelimiting condition. In addition to cognitive decline, people diagnosed with dementia will experience a gradual loss of function with a growing inability to perform basic activities of daily living, such as feeding, toileting and dressing. Dementia is often synonymous with ageing so individuals also experience conditions related to age, such as the effects of ageing skin and increased risk of frailty and falls, all of which are significant risk factors for skin tears. This paper considers fragile skin in the form of a skin tear, in the context of a fictionalised case study based on clinical practice of a person with dementia, and explores the assessment, care and treatment of such an injury, reflecting on the literature.

In 2024, the Alzheimer’s Society reported that one in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime. Its report shows that around a million people in the UK have a form of dementia. This is projected to rise to 1.4 million people by 2040. Alzheimer’s
disease and dementia are becoming a major burden on health and social care resources, as well as a financial and social cost to families who struggle to care for their loved ones. The report commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society in 2024 revealed that dementia costs in the UK equal £42 billion per year. This is set to rise sharply to £90 billion by 2040. Here, Annette Duck, retired interstitial lung disease specialist nurse, gives a personal account of how she and her family were let down by health and social care services with regards to their father’s care and discusses the evidence and guidelines to see what might have helped and supported them to care for their father.

There are an increasing number of people being diagnosed with dementia. Dementia is a life-limiting condition for which there is currently no effective treatment or cure to alter its progressive course. UK dementia policy has tended to focus on living well with dementia and less so on dying well with dementia, and there is a consistent difficulty in recognising when a person with dementia enters the end-of-life phase. The disease trajectory of  dementia is noted as being unpredictable, especially when compared to those of other terminal conditions and, in addition, when there are other lifethreatening conditions comorbid to the dementia. This paper uses two anonymised case studies that consider dying with and dying from dementia respectively, and offers rationales to support better
recognition of dying for quality end-of-life care

As a GP, I see a lot of people with dementia and their carers, and I also see those who are concerned that they may have dementia. These numbers have increased significantly since Covid, as people avoided seeing their GP and did not come forward if they had concerns.