LGBT Dementia Project: Impact Report (2018-2020)

There are over 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia and around 5-7% of the population are LGBT. Dementia does not discriminate and although every person’s experience of dementia is unique there can be additional challenges that are specific to people’s sexual orientation or gender identity. People from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) community often face barriers to accessing good health and social care support, and even when they are able to access care, it sometimes fails to meet their specific needs.

Funded by the Life Changes Trust, our LGBT Dementia Project was a 2–year capacity building initiative that delivered a number of interlinked activity strands aimed at increasing understanding of the issues faced by LGBT people affected by dementia, and helping to equip service providers to deliver inclusive services that better meet their needs.

LGBT people affected by dementia, are often not ‘out’ within dementia support services, and therefore often constitute a very invisible and overlooked group. The project was guided by lived experience of those affected by dementia as well as by people working in the dementia sector. Both those perspectives were key to informing the development of our training and our Proud to Care toolkit with recommendations.

Publications by the Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK, National Dementia Action Alliance, as well as work undertaken by Alzheimer Scotland have also highlighted a growing interest in the experience of LGBT people affected by dementia and how we ensure services are well placed to respond in an informed, affirmative and culturally sensitive manner. 

LGBT Health and Wellbeing works with a wide range of professionals to provide a strong, informed and credible voice for the interests of LGBT people. Since the delivery of our LGBT Age Capacity Building Project (2012–15), our capacity-building work has continued to have a strong focus on older LGBT people. This impact report (2021) adds to the voices of this often-overlooked community.

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