Charities to invest an extra £100m in research into dementia

The Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK are each donating £50m to the new Dementia Research Institute (DRI).

The investment is in addition to the £150m already pledged by the government. The DRI is expected to be up and running by 2020. It will have a central UK hub with a network of regional centres and involve hundreds of scientists.

The research carried out will help drive new approaches to diagnosis, treatment, care provision and ultimately the prevention of dementia.

It’s estimated that within 10 years, there will be one million sufferers in the UK as the population ages.

It is encouraging to see such comprehensive measures being put in place to tackle dementia, but as
well as health issues for sufferers, there are also practical matters relating to how their financial and business affairs should be managed.

Sufferers may have to rely on their families to make important decisions for them, but this can be difficult if legal arrangements have not been made in advance. Families may have to go through complicated court procedures to be granted authority to manage the sufferer’s affairs.

You may not be able to predict your future health but it is possible to put procedures in place so that people you trust will be able to help you if you do fall ill in the future.

The best way to do this is by setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). An LPA enables you to nominate someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the ability to do so yourself through illnesses such as dementia.

The property and finance LPA allows you to appoint someone to look after your financial affairs and the personal welfare LPA lets you grant an attorney authority over such matters as health care and the kind of treatment you receive.

Please contact Josie Birnie or Nicki Denton-Masih if you would like more information about Lasting Powers of Attorney.