Dementia Information

Memory is an important brain function that allows us to live our day to day lives. A memory has to be learnt and then stored in the right place so we can find it again.

10 Top tips information sheet for how to improve your memory.

Top 10 tips for carers assisting a person with confusion or dementia.

Booklet that you can print off and complete providing information about a person/patient who has dementia. 

Mental Capacity Act - Book 1 - Who Decides?  

This booklet gives you information about a new law, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which comes into force during 2007, and which will affect anyone who is unable to make some or all decisions. The inability to make a decision could be because of a learning disability, mental health problems, brain injury, dementia, alcohol or drug misuse, side effects of medical treatment or any other illness or disability

The purpose of this booklet is to tell you about a new law called the Mental Capacity Act which will come into force during 2007. The booklet is for anyone who helps to care for someone over 16 who is unable to make some or all decisions. The inability to make a decision could be because of a brain injury or stroke, dementia, learning disability, mental health problems, alcohol or drug misuse, the side effects of medical treatment or any other illness or disability.

The person you care for may lack capacity to make decisions about money, health and other matters. You may need to help them to make those decisions or you may have to take action or make decisions on their behalf. The Mental Capacity Act sets out what should happen when someone lacks capacity to make decisions.

This booklet tells you about a new law, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), which comes into force in England and Wales during 2007 and will affect the way you work.

The MCA will apply to everyone who works in health and social care and is involved in the care, treatment or support of people aged 16 and over who live in England and Wales and who are unable to make all or some decisions for themselves.

The inability to make a decision could be caused by a psychiatric illness (for example, dementia), a learning disability, mental health problems, a brain injury or a stroke.

This booklet gives information on a new law called the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This booklet is not a Code of Practice under the Act and is not a guide to how the new law will apply to people in different situations.

IMCA stands for Independent Mental Capacity Advocate.

IMCA is a new type of statutory advocacy introduced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the Act). The Act gives some people who lack capacity a right to receive support from an IMCA.

The service comes into effect in April 2007, in England and in October 2007 in Wales. Local authorities (LAs) have commissioned IMCA services in England and local health boards are commissioning in Wales.

Responsible bodies, the NHS and LAs, both have a duty to make sure that IMCAs are available to represent people who lack capacity to make specific decisions, so staff affected will need to know when an IMCA must be involved

If you have been diagnosed with dementia, it is likely that there will come a time when you aren’t able to make some decisions for yourself. You can make some choices now (for example, about future care and treatment), in case you are not able to make decisions later on. There are a number of ways you can do this, often called ‘advance care planning’ or planning ahead.

Advance decisions and advance statements are just two of the ways you can plan ahead. They each do different things. This factsheet explains the differences and looks at what each can and cannot do. It also provides practical advice to help you to draft an advance decision, and there is a template advance decision form to help you. You may want to take your time to go through this information, or come back to it in future.

External link to the UK Down's Syndrome web site.

External link to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) advice about delirium.