The impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic on people with dementia and their carers (Findings from studies and key messages)

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent local, regional, and national lockdowns have led to significant disruption to health and social care services. For people with dementia and their family carers this is problematic. People with dementia rely upon timely and responsive services to live well. The abrupt closure and reduction of many health and community support services arising from the pandemic is of concern. Our two studies explored the impact of COVID-19 on the life quality of people with dementia and their carers. The purpose of this document is to share these findings and provide key messages for services and commissioners. The key messages have been developed in conjunction with people with dementia, their carers and researchers. The Time for Dementia (TfD) study followed a group of 245 family carers during COVID lockdown who provided information on their quality of life and other factors affecting wellbeing before and during the pandemic. In-depth interviews about the impact of the pandemic on their quality of life were also undertaken with 16 carers. The DETERMIND-C19 study compared information collected from 93 people newly diagnosed with dementia and 113 carers before the pandemic to that gathered during the pandemic. Changes in people’s mental, physical and social well-being were explored as well as their use of services over this time period. In-depth interviews with 21 people with dementia and 42 carers were undertaken in order to better understand experiences and quality of life during the pandemic.