Dementia support service

The dementia support service provides a central point of contact if you or someone you know is living with dementia or are worried about your/their memory.

Dementia Care and Support Compact

A dementia challenge was launched in March 2012 by the Prime Minister to make a real difference to the lives of people with dementia and their families and carers. The Prime Minister's dementia challenge builds on progress already made through the National Dementia Strategy (opens in a new window).

This Dementia Care & Support Compact (coordinated by the English Community Care Association) is our response to the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia. It sets out our commitment to supporting the delivery of the National Dementia Strategy and improving care and support for people with dementia, their carers and families. Our action plan is below and this will be refreshed twice annually.

For more information about the challenge please see the Department of Health website (opens in a new window) and the English Community Care Association website (opens in a new window).

What help is available for Dementia?

Specially trained dementia support workers are available in all areas of the county to help you access information, advice, services and support.

They can refer you to memory assessment services and to adult care and carer's assessments. They can direct you to organisations that can help you get legal, financial and housing advice and they can help you find carer support and information groups.

There are also memory cafés as well as a wide range of health and social activities.

To get in touch with the dementia support service in your local area you can phone 01246 223366 or 01332 208845 or email: derbyshire@alzheimers.org.uk

Alternatively if you wish to find out what services and support is available in your area you can use the links on this page to select the area you live in and this will take you to our directory of specialist and community based services.

Who gets dementia?

Dementia can affect people of any age, but is most common in older people. One in five people over 80 and one in 20 people over 65 have a form of dementia. People with Down's Syndrome are more likely to experience symptoms of dementia at an earlier age.

According to the Dementia UK report 2010 (opens in a new window) figures there are currently 750,000 people with dementia in the UK including 16,000 under 65 and 11,500 people from black and minority ethnic groups. There will be over a million people with dementia by 2021.

In Derbyshire there are currently around 3,250 people living with a diagnosis of dementia - 250 of these people are under 65. In addition, there may be more than 6,000 people living in Derbyshire with undiagnosed dementia. Estimates predict that the total number of people living with dementia in Derbyshire will increase to 11,000 by 2015.

The Alzheimer's Society has information about the many different types of dementia (opens in a new window) on their website. You can also find information about dementia related to a learning disability (opens in a new window).