This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
Awareness and understanding To improve understanding - and get across the message that people with dementia can be helped - we ran a nationwide campaign at the end of 2012, which was estimated to have been seen by over 38 million people. An evaluation of the campaign found that three-quarters of people agreed that the campaign would help people with dementia and their families. On 7 May 2014 Public Health England and the Alzheimer’s Society, supported by corporate and public sector partners, launched the Dementia Friends campaign, a major social movement aimed at improving understanding of dementia and changing attitudes towards people with the condition. By the end of 2015, we will also:
get at least 20 cities, towns and villages working towards becoming dementia friendly – 78 communities across England have signed up to the foundation-stage recognition process, more than trebling the original ambition
work with the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a Publically Available Specification (PAS) for dementia friendly communities. The PAS will build on the foundation-stage recognition process and support communities who wish to take further steps towards becoming dementia friendly
create at least 1 million Dementia Friends - people who are confident offering support to people with dementia, there are currently over 870,000
As part of the dementia friendly communities programme, work is also being taken forward in specific areas, including financial services, retail, transport, technology, the arts, sport and leisure and rural communities. A Dementia Friendly Financial Services Charter, developed by Alzheimer’s Society, Lloyds Banking Group and organisations across the financial services sector, was published in October 2013. A Dementia Friendly Technology Charter, developed by a working group led by Tunstall Healthcare, was published in June 2014. Next steps for dementia Work is underway to shape the future direction of domestic dementia policy. Evidence from the last 5 years will be used to identify gaps and priorities for action, including diagnosis and high quality post diagnosis support. In early 2015, the Department of Health will publish its vision for the future of dementia policy in England to 2020, following the end of the Prime Minister’s 3-year Dementia Challenge. The department is talking to a range of people to collect evidence and views to inform the future of the dementia policy, including the newly formed Dementia Advisory Group.