World Alzheimer Report 2024: Global changes in attitudes to dementia (Alzheimer’s Disease International, 20 September 2024)

Summary

This report explores attitudes toward dementia, examining how the condition is perceived and understood by society and the stigma that still surrounds the condition. The report delves into the results of an international survey analysed by the London School of Economics and Political Science, consisting of more than 40,000 responses from people living with dementia, carers, health and care practitioners, and the general public from over 166 countries and territories.

Content

The survey that informs this report is a follow-up to Alzheimer’s Disease International’s 2019 Attitudes to dementia survey, and explores how perceptions of dementia have – or haven’t – changed in the span of five years. Key findings from the survey include:

• 80% of the general public think dementia is a normal part of ageing, a dramatic increase compared to 66% in 2019.
• 65% of health and care professionals believe dementia is a normal part of ageing, up from 62% in 2019.
• Over a quarter of people globally believe there is nothing we can do to prevent dementia, with an increase from 2019 to 37% in lower-middle income countries.
• There are also varying degrees of understanding around causal attributions of dementia; with a dramatic increase of people in high-income countries believing that lack of family support can cause dementia and over a quarter believing there is nothing we can do to prevent dementia.
• There was a general increase in the view that people living with dementia are dangerous and unpredictable in their behaviour, as well as an increased perception that it is important to remove family responsibilities from people with dementia to avoid stressing them.
• More than 27% of respondents from the general public expressed a belief that moving a family member with dementia to a care home, even against their wishes, would be for the best
• 88% of people living with dementia indicate experiencing discrimination, up from 83% in 2019.
• 36% of the general public in lower-middle income countries are willing to keep their dementia a secret, a significant increase from 19% in 2019.
• Carers and people living with dementia tended to report higher levels of loneliness than the general population.