New toolkit launched to improve dementia care for South Asian people in the UK

A collaboration of university researchers, voluntary organisations and commissioners have developed a range of online tools to improve understanding of need, and influence services and support for people living in the UK from a South Asian background who are affected by dementia.

This new toolkit, hosted by the Race Equality Foundation will provide enhanced care for members of South Asian communities – many of whom receive significantly less effective dementia care from statutory services compared to their counterparts from White British communities.

The two short videos on ADAPT's homepage set the scene brilliantly with both a dramatisation of someone's lived experience, and a clearly articulated overview of the challenges and barriers facing the South Asian community in both seeking support initially, and in accessing services thereafter.

The toolkit itself comprises two sections: 'the dementia care pathway' and 'working better together' and is formed of a range of videos, animations, materials, tools, assessments and other resources. Together the two halves of the toolkit support improved understanding and cultural competence, service planning, delivery and access across the spectrum of services and support that might be needed by someone from a South Asian background who is living with dementia, or caring for a family member who is.

The ADAPT project is a collaborative effort across the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), the University of Bradford, the Race Equality Foundation, the Dementia Alliance for Culture and Ethnicity and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, as well as researchers from the universities of Bath and Wolverhampton. It was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, under its Research for Patient Benefit Programme, and was launched in Dementia Action Week.