The Department of Health launched a listening programme to work with people with dementia and their carers in November 2016. The programme will include different ways of gathering people’s views and experiences, both in person and online.
The first part of this work is an online survey for people who have been diagnosed with dementia in the past 2 years (since November 2014), and people who provide unpaid care for them. The survey, which is open until 31 January 2017, asks about people’s experiences of dementia diagnosis, support and awareness. It has been produced in consultation with people with dementia, their carers and our partner organisations.
As well as the online survey, local dementia groups will be able to discuss the questions in groups or one to one and feed the results back to the department. To help with this, the Department has published guidance on holding discussions with people with dementia and carers. They want to hear from as many people as possible, particularly those from diverse communities and those whose voices aren’t often heard. They will be organising specific discussion groups with these communities.
