It is estimated that around 70% of people living in care homes have dementia.

Most care home residents who live with dementia are at the latter stages of the condition and may struggle to communicate their needs and preferences. This may cause them to act in ways that are seen as challenging and difficult to manage. However, despite the high prevalence, many residents in care homes with dementia or cognitive impairment remain undiagnosed. This can result in crisis management and unplanned admissions to hospital that could be avoided if personalised dementia care is provided.

This toolkit has been developed to support care home managers and their staff improve the identification of those with dementia, and enable quality dementia care to be provided to their residents. Not all residents with dementia have the same need and so it’s important that each resident is supported with a personalised care plan approach.

Published: November 2020