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As a consequence of successes in improved healthcare and living standards, many more people are living longer, which has given rise to new patterns of disease.
In the coming
decades, the demographic composition of almost all populations in
the developed world will change substantially with dramatic
increases in the numbers of elderly people.
This change will impact individual healthcare needs and
associated healthcare costs. At the same time, the shift will
result in an increase in the dependency ratio - a shrinking working
population will be obliged to finance the healthcare, pensions and
other services required by burgeoning elderly
populations.*
The elderly are the highest users of health and care services.
Higher rates of chronic disease are found in older people, not
least as a result of medical advances and technological
improvements which mean that people are now living longer than ever
with disease, and often with multiple chronic conditions.
Among the most common chronic diseases to be faced by older
people is dementia, with the number of sufferers worldwide expected
almost to double from the current 18 million to 34 million by
2025.
For this reason, Bupa is focused on advancing and improving aged
care, particularly for those people living with dementia.
*Dependency ratio can be defined as an age-population
ratio of those typically not in the labour force (the dependent
part) and those typically in the labour force (the productive
part).
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The Bupa Foundation provided funding over two years to the research project of Loughborough University’s Claire Bamford on “improving patient-centred care for people with dementia in medical encounters”
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Early in 2009, Bupa’s Dr Clive Bowman published a paper in the UK’s Royal Society of Medicine’s Journal, Clinical Risk Magazine entitled, ‘Antipsychotic drugs, dementia and care homes’
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The UK’s Alzheimer’s Society and the Bupa Foundation have formed a ground-breaking partnership to boost research to support research into the cause, cure, care, and prevention of dementia
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Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and affects at least 8 million people in the UK
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It’s estimated that by 2021 there will be over a million people in the UK with dementia
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Osteoporosis has long been underestimated, misdiagnosed and poorly treated. But researchers are now working on tools to make it easier to predict – and manage – early on
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Frailty is a condition generally considered to be an inevitable outcome of the process of ageing. To be elderly, we believe, is to be frail
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Eyes might be windows to the soul, but retinal scans may offer even more valuable insights into cardiovascular disease
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