Dementia: beyond multi-morbidity
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of public health perspectives to “come to the aid” of dementia research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on research and policy papers.
Findings
This paper outlines some potential preventive interventions, focussing particularly on life-course phenomena like child poverty, diet and pollution, on the biological mechanisms that enable psychosocial interventions, and on the status of dementia as a syndemic disorder.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents the opinions of the authors alone. It is based on recent research evidence and the authors’ experiences of dementia research, education and services. The implications for social scientists and for dementia research funders are contained in discussion of the need for research on prevention and social support for people with dementia and their families. While the evidence to guide primary prevention using psychosocial methods is less secure, the paper outlines a large secondary prevention research agenda in dementia.
Practical implications
Methodological approaches that facilitate harmonisation, pooling and comparison of data, are needed. In practical terms the paper argues that there is a need to know if and how psychosocial interventions work, and improve quality of life or even influence harder outcomes.
Originality/value
Few papers have considered the implications of a public health approach to dementia other than taking an epidemiological approach and focusing on the problems of dementia and rising numbers. This paper argues that a wider view of public health may be of particular relevance to dementia syndrome.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer: this paper presents the views of the authors alone and should not be interpreted as necessarily the views of the National Institute of Health Research, the NHS or the Department of Health.
Citation
Iliffe, S. and Manthorpe, J. (2017), "Dementia: beyond multi-morbidity", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-05-2017-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited