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Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities and Dementia - Where Are We Now?

David Truswell

Produced for the Race Equality Foundation’s Better Health briefing paper series. The Race Equality Foundation (www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk) is a UK not-for-profit organization that seeks to influence national policy on support and services for black and minority ethnic communities by developing evidenced-based better practice to promote equality. This briefing looks at developments in the UK since the launch of the National Dementia Strategy in 2009. It uses census data to estimate the number of black and minority ethnic people living with dementia in the UK, and proposes innovative solutions for care, including the use of community dementia navigators. The briefing argues that: • Existing policy recommendations have not been taken into account when developing information and services to meet needs of black and minority ethnic communities. • The prevalence of dementia in some black and minority communities in the UK has been significantly underestimated. • Dementia is misunderstood and highly stigmatized in many UK black and minority ethnic communities. • There is an economic case for financing improvements in ‘living well’ with dementia for people in black and minority ethnic communities, • There should be a vision of a culturally appropriate approach to the dementia pathway that starts from raising awareness, leads to facilitating early diagnosis and lasts into appropriate end-of-life care.