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By encouraging people to dare to speak its name, the Alzheimer's Society is intent on bringing dementia out of the shadows. Neil Hunt reports
The author Terry Pratchett, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease last December, appeared at a press conference last month to back a new report by the Alzheimer's Society detailing the stigma attached to dementia. Dementia - Out of the shadows surveyed more than 4,000 people and canvassed opinion from people with dementia and their families. It concluded that people with dementia lose friends, see their neighbours cross the street to avoid them and have professionals dismiss symptoms as just old age. The Alzheimer's Society is calling for public awareness campaigns to address stigma and wants to see it reduced by half in five years.
Stigma
In preparing the report, the society assessed the needs of people living with dementia and asked them to explain first hand what it was like to receive their diagnosis and the impact it had on them and their families. It found half of UK adults believe dementia is a condition plagued by stigma, double that associated with cancer. While funding for treatment and support of cancer patients has grown...