An article by Clarissa Giebel and Bronte Heath, recently published in the journal Aging and Mental Health, constitutes the first study looking at the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on people with dementia and their carers. The study focused specifically on the ability of people with dementia and carers to access social care and support services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the UK. It made use of a 31-item online survey conducted in October 2022 which included questions about people with dementia, carers and people knowing but not caring for someone with dementia, about social care and support service access, the cost-of-living crisis, and changes due to the cost-of-living crisis.
The researchers also sought to analyse whether gender and ethnicity were associated with struggling to pay for dementia care since the crisis. Those who participated in the survey included: 1,095 people, unpaid carers and people who knew were not caring for someone with dementia. Of those who participated in the survey, 745 people with dementia were using community-based social care and support services. The results demonstrated that 20% of those who completed the full survey had diminished the amount they spent on care services since the crisis. Another important finding of the study was that men with dementia, as well as people from non-white ethnic backgrounds, were shown to be at higher risk of experiencing difficulties in paying for care services.
These findings indicate that the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated existing difficulties in using vital social care and support services for dementia, by creating more barriers to accessing care. It is also worth mentioning that this is in line with previous research which indicates that people from minority ethnic groups are more likely to face barriers to accessing dementia care as opposed to people from white backgrounds. This study highlights the need to have increased funding for social care for people with dementia and particularly people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2023.2197845
