The world’s population is ageing. Improvements in health care in the past century have contributed to people living longer and healthier lives. However, this has also resulted in an increase in the number of people with noncommunicable diseases, including dementia. Although dementia mainly affects older people, it is not a normal part of ageing. Dementia...

Currently, there are 35 million people worldwide living with dementia, and as the population ages this is predicted to reach over 100 million by 2050. The estimated worldwide costs of dementia in 2010 were US$604 billion, and this cost is expected to increase by 85% by 2030. The economic and social impact of dementia on...

People with dementia have comparatively high rates of hospitalisation. Their relatively high casemix complexity contributes to longer hospital stays, which has an impact on their physical and mental state. Research shows that well-designed and targeted services have improved the quality of care for people with dementia. However, few studies have investigated patient outcomes using integrated...

Deloitte Access Economics was commissioned by Alzheimer’s Australia to provide updated dementia prevalence estimates and projections for Australia. Specifically, this report estimates the number of people with dementia in Australia in 2011, and predicts the number of people who will be living with dementia in Australia in the future, from 2012 until 2050.

The World Alzheimer Report 2011 shows that there are interventions that are effective in the early stages of dementia, some of which may be more effective when started earlier, and that there is a strong economic argument in favour of earlier diagnosis and timely intervention.