Background to the project

Dementia is one of the most common and serious conditions society faces. More than 800,000 people are affected in the UK, and dementia care costs £23 billion each year. The negative impacts can be overwhelming for people with dementia and their families.

Research has shown that there are differences in the level and quality of care between people with dementia. These differences can vary by

• Ethnic background
• Whether the person with dementia or their local authority pay for their care
• Whether a person is diagnosed with dementia earlier or at a later stage in the development of the condition.

The DETERMIND project will look at these very important questions about why care is unequal and what this means for people with dementia in terms of their health, level of comfort and happiness – or ‘quality of life’ – and the cost of their care.

We aim to explore and understand the answers to these questions:

• What are the differences in dementia care and who gets worse or better care?
• What aspects of dementia care lead to good and bad quality of life outcomes?
• How are outcomes for people with dementia affected by the cost of their care, when they are diagnosed, the amount of health or social care they get, and their life circumstances?

These answers will help improve care for people with dementia and their carers. By improving care we hope to improve quality of life outcomes as well.

The DETERMIND project is made up of seven smaller projects or ‘workstreams’(WS):