Strategies for managing the financial impact of young onset dementia

A key priority area of the DYNAMIC project was to improve strategies to help manage the financial impact of living with young onset dementia.

Key themes

Feeling unprepared and overwhelmed
Following diagnosis and beyond, people find it hard to find information and advice about managing their finances.

Loss of salaries
Significant financial pressures can impact on families’ access to support if costs are involved.

Struggle to access benefits and entitlements
Families find the benefits system hard to access and struggle to understand what support they are entitled to.

Carers’ capacity to keep earning
Whether carers can remain in employment depends on the support of employers and care services put in place at home.

Key messages

Effective financial guidance from social care staff can reduce stress and financial costs to the person, their family and services. Commissioners can ensure adult social care teams and other providers recognise the financial impact of young onset dementia and signpost people to appropriate advice, assistance and information.

We have created an animation – see below – to show that good financial support matters. We want to make it accessible to everyone living with young onset dementia.

We have also created a leaflet which covers benefits and entitlements, managing the costs of care, managing your money, employment, early retirement and pensions and legal considerations. It may be useful to people with young onset dementia, their families and social care professionals, in their role of supporting people with young onset dementia and their families.