Social prescribing

Background: Support services for people with dementia are variable depending on the area or town they live. People with dementia and family carers can often get very little support after a diagnosis. Services might not be suitable or they may not be aware of the service in the first place. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate a socially prescribed community service provided to people with dementia and family carers offering physical and mental activities.

These are not easy times for carers in England. While English legislation and government policy are more carer-friendly than ever before, resources are under increasing pressure from both the exploding ‘demographic time-bomb’ and ‘austerity’. This has followed the global financial crash of 2008, subjecting the whole of the public sector to significant cuts. [...] If access to formal care has proportionately reduced, we must drive additional value from a more integrated voluntary and statutory sector ‘system’.