New resource aims to minimise population’s dementia risk

The government has made a new resource available with the aim of highlighting the modifiable lifestyle risk factors associated with dementia.

Public Health England has published the fourth edition of Health Matters, a resource for health professionals and local government supporting the commissioning and delivery of local services, to raise awareness of the fact that dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing.

It underlines the fact that modifying cardiovascular risk factors could help to reduce the impact of neurodegenerative disease, as well as highlighting the substantial costs associated with dementia care.

The pack includes local and national level data, infographics, slide sets, case studies and blogs to help make the case for investing in dementia risk reduction.

It also outlines the benefits of the Dementia Profile tool, which can help to identify local risk factors for dementia such as smoking prevalence or physical inactivity.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said: "Dementia is a critical public health concern. In the absence of a treatment or cure, it is important that we take action to reduce the numbers of people getting dementia."