ABSTRACT
Worldwide, there are an estimated 50 million people living with dementia (WHO, 2017a). In developed counties, often up to 50% of these people are not formally diagnosed. In the low and middle-income countries (LMICs), this formal diagnosis figure is often much lower than in developed countries (WHO, 2015). There is one new diagnosis globally every 3.2 seconds (WHO, 2015) and of the more than 130 types or causes of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease makes up 50–70% of all dementias. Almost all dementias are a terminal, progressive chronic illness (WHO, 2015). There is still no cure, although there are some treatments for some types of Alzheimer’s disease, which may slow down the symptoms, but are not disease modifying. It has become very clear the medical model of care is no longer appropriate for early stage dementia.
