September is World Alzheimer’s Month. A global campaign to raise awareness and challenge stigma around dementia. This year’s theme, “Never Too Early, Never Too Late”, highlights how risk reduction and early support can make a real difference.
Research has changed the way we see dementia. The 2024 Lancet Commission highlights that up to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 lifestyle and environmental risk factors over a lifetime. These are:
- Lower levels of education (particularly in early life)
- Hearing loss
- Traumatic brain injury
- Hypertension (especially in midlife)
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Obesity
- Smoking
- Depression
- Social isolation
- Physical inactivity
- Diabetes
- Air pollution
- High cholesterol
- Poor diet
This is a reminder that dementia is not just a late-life condition, it’s roots are often planted decades earlier.
How can I get involved this September?
While you can’t control every aspect of your staff or service users’ lives, you can create environments that support healthier choices and raise awareness. For example:
- Promote social connection – encourage activities and environments that reduce isolation, both for service users’ and staff team’s.
- Support healthy lifestyles – small changes in care homes or workplaces can build long-term protection, such as nutrition changes or exercise programmes.
- Encourage learning and engagement – lifelong learning and stimulating activities not only improve quality of life but also reduce dementia risk.
- Encourage hearing checks and health screenings – routine access to hearing aids, blood pressure checks, and diabetes management.
- Create dementia friendly awareness campaigns – use September as an opportunity to open conversations with families, communities, and staff teams.
Find out how you can get involved this September HERE. At Halo Staffing, we believe that informed, engaged teams are better equipped to deliver compassionate care. We’re here to help you build resilient, skilled staff who understand the challenges of dementia and the role they can play in prevention. Find out how we can help you HERE!
