Dementia care
trial, but when researchers looked at the data it appeared that it could be effective in people in the earlier stages of the disease.
This analysis suggested solanezumab could become the first drug to slow down the rate of progression of Alzheimer’s. However, in December a large phase 3 trial testing this theory produced negative results. Although this was extremely disappointing, this is only one of several drugs in development that aim to tackle dementia in different ways, so we should not lose hope. Our belief that dementia can and will be beaten has not faltered.
New initiatives
Last year, the Alzheimer’s Society announced a new and ambitious initiative that will transform the way we approach dementia care research. The Care Research Programme will award up to £2 million in grants to enable care researchers to focus on particular priority areas within dementia care. These priority areas were chosen by consulting with people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s Society employees and volunteers.
May 2016 saw the Alzheimer’s Society pledge a £50 million investment into dementia research as it became one of the three founding members of the Dementia Research Institute. The institute will form a major part of the UK’s research efforts to better diagnose, treat, care for and prevent dementia. It will transform dementia research by connecting and engaging hundreds of researchers working across different disciplines, including those outside the field of dementia, and attracting leading experts from all over the world. It was later announced that Professor Bart De Strooper will direct the institute and that the central hub will be at University College London. Researchers will also be based at a number of Dementia Research Institute centres located across the UK.
The institute will also have a focus on care and public health research. This work will be developed from 2018, but during 2017 the Alzheimer’s Society will create initial plans to ensure it tackles key areas of need in dementia care. It is establishing a taskforce comprising academics, research funders, people affected by dementia and carers to agree goals for research into dementia care and support.
Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society, says: “This year will see us take
significant steps forward in our understanding of dementia. Rather frustratingly, research does take time, but investing in it really does transform the lives of people, as we have seen in other areas like cancer research. I see 2017 as a pivotal year in establishing a Dementia Research Institute that fits perfectly in the UK research environment and becomes a world leading institute that takes dementia research to a whole new level.”
Developing partnerships The Alzheimer’s Society is also working on developing partnerships in care research so that people with dementia can be better cared for while the search for a cure continues. Shared knowledge is vital to enable people from different specialties and backgrounds to better understand how to provide the best care for the people affected. Over the next year, the society will be working with the British Deaf Association and expert researchers from Manchester University to find the best ways to support people in the deaf community who are affected by dementia. It will also be supporting many other initiatives, such as helping people to be more independent via the Promoting Independence In Dementia (PRIDE) programme and further developing its work on meeting centres, which provide person-centred care in a community environment. Head of development, Colin Capper, says: “I’m really looking forward to seeing the care research projects that we will fund in 2017. We’ve got a number of exciting decisions coming up, including who will receive our ambitious £2 million care programme grants. We also have a second round of our implementation grant scheme and I’m eager to see how we can further help important research findings get put into practice.” Last year the Alzheimer’s Society announced a new and ambitious initiative that will transform the way it approaches dementia care research. Care Research Programme grants will award up to £2 million to enable researchers to focus on key areas within dementia care. These were chosen by consulting with people living with dementia as well as Alzheimer’s Society employees and volunteers.
The future
This year there will be a strong focus on how to spot the early signs of dementia. Being able to accurately diagnose dementia early will allow the people affected to get the support, information
May 2017 •
www.thecarehomeenvironment .com
and treatments that are relevant to them. It will also mean that people can be enrolled in clinical trials for new treatments as soon as possible, something that is thought to be incredibly important in the search for an effective drug.
The research ambition of the Alzheimer’s Society is to change the face of dementia research forever. Its aim is to make sure dementia has the same global profile as cancer, heart disease and HIV/AIDS and that the same level of time, energy and money are invested in dementia research as they are into research focusing on these other conditions.
Its priorities span both biomedical and care research on topics such as risk reduction, drugs and treatments, support for carers and dementia and the arts. It will also continue to fund pioneering work by UK based researchers that will advance our knowledge in all of these areas.
Resources l Join Dementia Research is a powerful tool that matches people up with suitable studies for them; almost 25,000 volunteers and 100 research organisations are currently involved. If you’d like to join Dementia Research, please call 0300 222 11 22 or go to
www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk
l To find out more about the Alzheimer’s Society research programme, go to
www.alzheimers.org.uk/research
TCHE
Louise Walker
Louise has a degree in medical biochemistry and a PhD in cell biology, both from the University of Manchester and specialises in cell signalling and endocytosis. She also undertook research into the genetics of dementia while on a placement at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida during her undergraduate degree.
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