Young Onset Dementia Awareness was launched on October 24th 2022, and aims to raise awareness, tackle stigma and champion change. Find out how to get involved
Dementia is referred to as young onset when symptoms begin before the age of 65. The types of dementia that affect younger people are often rarer and can be difficult to diagnose, meaning that people can go a long time with the wrong diagnosis and little support. Many people will still be working, have a mortgage to pay and have elderly parents or a young family looking to them for support. This can lead to significant emotional and financial strain for families. Finding age-appropriate support services for people living with young onset dementia can also be difficult, as can finding other people who are going through the same life changes. For all these reasons and more that’s why Dementia Forward would love you to mark Young Onset Dementia Awareness Day.
You can find out how to get involved here: Young Onset Dementia Awareness Day, Dementia Forward, North Yorkshire’s leading dementia charity
Dementia UK and the Young Dementia Network have developed a young onset dementia care framework to help integrated care boards (ICBs) meet the unique needs of people with young onset dementia. The framework offers clear, evidence-based steps to deliver best practice care, including a gold standard care pathway providing guidance from diagnosis to end of life.
The framework can support care systems to deliver:
- faster, more accurate diagnoses
- integrated, age-appropriate support at every stage
- named young onset dementia leads within both the ICB and clinical services
- better outcomes and more efficient use of resources
You can view and download the Young Onset Dementia Framework here
During Dementia Action Week 2025 Manchester Women Together filmed an engaging conversation with Jacqui Cannon, Chief Executive of The Lewy Body Society, Dr Rebecca Marchmont and Sarah Kirkland, Senior Project Manager at Dementia United, who shared their personal and professional insights into young onset dementia. You can view the film here and find out more here
Working with a range of partners, stakeholders and lived experience members we’ve collated information from a range of external organisations for people affected by dementia in Greater Manchester, including people living with dementia, carers, and practitioners. The content includes resources about young onset and rarer forms of dementia. Young-Onset-and-Rarer-Forms-of-Dementia-Collated-National-Resources-October-2024.docx