Only A Minority Of UK Adults Aware Of Need To Plan For Cognitive Decline Risk

Tom Burroughes

18 May 2017

A survey of 2,000 UK adults by a law firm focused on wealthy clinets found that seven out of 10 of them fear the onset of dementia and other forms of cognitive decline as the years go by, but only a small majority of them have set out plans to deal with it.

The survey, carried out by , the wealth management group, has spoken about the need to make an understanding of the issue part of the advisor's competence. With trillion-figure sums due to be transferred by senior citizens to the next generation in coming years, issues around cognitive ability, legal protections and estate planning take on a sharper edge. (See an article on legal issues around cognitive decline here.)

Irwin Mitchell said its research also looked at the triggers in life at which people begin to feel old. The average adult starts to worry about getting old at the age of 40, with losing your keys and a receding hairline among the triggers for that concern. Other signs of getting older include temporarily forgetting a child’s name and using the phrase “When I was younger…”

And eight in 10 respondents admit to walking into a room and forgetting why they’d entered, with one in five saying it happens often, it said.

The survey was conducted to coincide with this year's Dementia Awareness Week, 15 – 20 May 2017, which is being held to encourage people who are worried about dementia to confront their worries by addressing dementia directly and talk to each other as well as seeking support from the Alzheimer's Society.

The law firm said it has trained 470 lawyers to become official "Dementia Friends" who are more aware of the issues facing those who develop the illness.