We at Diverse Cymru are proud to play an active role in the World Alzheimer’s month activities.

We want to pay tribute and amplify the voices of the seldom-heard communities who have been affected by dementia.

An estimated 25,000 people of Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic (BAME) origins live with dementia in the UK – a number which is expected to increase sevenfold by 2051. People from many minoritised communities experience dementia in a markedly different way to their White British counterparts. The fight for a myriad of effective information pathways, quick diagnosis, and person-centred care systems that address the health as well as psychosocial support requirements of those with dementia has long been a research, practice and policy priority.  We need to build our understanding of how best to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their families and carers.  Understanding the ways BAME people living with dementia and their carers seek information, and how they experience the assessment process, and live with dementia is a critical step.  In the coming decades the UK’s older demographic will increasingly become more diverse and thus the need for dementia services to improve how people access their screening and assessment services, to enhance their models of early intervention and to develop meaningful messaging and information platforms will become that more pressing.

This month will be an opportunity to raise awareness about dementia, and share some multimedia resources which reflect sensitively on it over this time.