Survey highlights worrying isolation of dementia patients

Research has shown that eight in 10 people living alone with dementia have seen no family or friends since March, while tens of thousands more regularly spending up to a week without having a single in-depth conversation.

The largest ever survey by the Alzheimer’s Society reveals that about 56 per cent of those with dementia, roughly 510,000 people, and 80 per cent (96,000) of those who live alone with the condition have been completely isolated since the coronavirus lockdown began.

As a result, the survey found that a third of those living with the condition now feel like 'giving up'. More than a third of people living with dementia who answered the survey said they had lost the confidence to leave their homes since the pandemic outbreak, despite the loosening of some lockdown rules.

Kate Lee, chief executive at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “As lockdown begins to lift and the true extent of its knock-on effect to the health and well-being of people with dementia becomes evident, we’ve heard from people up and down the UK who are scared, lonely and struggling to cope.

“Thousands of people with dementia, worst hit by the virus, have tragically died. Additionally, the dreadful deterioration of their mental health risks scarring thousands more in the long term."

There are currently about 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, about 120,000 of whom live alone. The number of those living with dementia is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said: “This new research confirms our worst fears about the catastrophic psychological impact of lockdown on many older people living with dementia – huge collateral damage from this terrible pandemic. This survey is also a reminder of the importance of ensuring those living alone with dementia in their own homes are not forgotten to.”