Susan Mitchell, Policy Manager, Alzheimer’s Research UK
Working on The Physiological Society’s Growing Older, Better Expert Group has been an enormously interesting and insightful experience, particularly since I work in a disease area where we still don’t fully understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for its cause and progression. Understanding the mechanisms behind the diseases that cause dementia will be the first step to progress in prevention, disease management and cure. This is why physiological understanding and collaborative, interdisciplinary working is so crucial.
Our evolving scientific understanding of dementia and a wider lack of public knowledge can lead to confusion among the public about the extent to which they can make changes to lower their risk of developing dementia. The Alzheimer Research UK’s 2018 Dementia Attitudes Monitor report demonstrated that we still have more work to do to improve public understanding that dementia and cognitive decline are not inevitable parts of ageing.
Over 1 in 5 surveyed did not know that “dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing” (1). This is significant because it affects how people perceive dementia risk and how likely they are to engage proactively with lowering their risk of dementia. Only 34% of those we surveyed thought that there was anything they could do to lower their risk of developing dementia later in life.
The translation of physiological evidence into policy implementation, presented in the Physiological Society’s Growing Older, Better report, is an important call to action for policymakers and physiologists alike. The report recognises that physiological researchers can offer considerable insight that is relevant to policymakers – the challenge is to ensure that there is two way dialogue between both groups. The report calls for a greater emphasis on challenging perceptions of inevitability of age-related diseases and conditions.
Part of addressing this challenge will mean redefining how the public perceives and responds to the concept of an ageing society. We need to empower people to take control of their health earlier in life: for reducing the risk of dementia, midlife is a particularly important time to take action. We must narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest in society. And all of us involved in public health must also challenge the perception of silos in healthcare, where too often different diseases are seen as being unrelated to one another.
A balance needs to be struck between the role of individuals to manage and take responsibility for their own health, with the wider structural and policy incentives that Government can initiate to encourage healthy ageing.
I would encourage you to pay careful attention to the fourth chapter of the Growing Older, Better report, as it is only through scientists and policymakers working together that we can hope to grow older, better.
References
- Alzheimer’s Research UK (2018), Dementia Attitudes Monitor’, Cambridge, page 20. Taken from YouGov polling for Alzheimer’s Research UK 25 – 26 June 2018. Total sample size was 2,096 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).