Dementia describes a progressive set of symptoms that over time see a decline in memory, language and behaviour which affect a person’s daily life. It has a profound impact on the individual, family, and wider networks. There are estimated to be 944,000 people in the UK with dementia.¹ In Bexley there are higher rates of those aged 65 years and over recorded to be living with dementia (4.2%) compared to both London and England averages (4.17% and 3.97% respectively), this accounts for 1,722 people.₂ Dementia rates in Bexley are expected to steadily increase and by 2040 over 4,000 residents are expected to be living with the condition³.

Age-related Frailty is a distinctive health state which is usually related to the ageing process, in which multiple body systems gradually lose their in-built reserves. Around 10 per cent of people aged over 65 years have frailty, rising to between a quarter and a half of those aged over 85.⁴ Older people with frailty are at risk of unpredictable deterioration in their health resulting from minor stressor events. Socially, frailty can be associated with loss of confidence, loneliness, and social isolation, reduced independence, and reliance on others for activities of daily living.

There are some actions that can be taken to reduce risk factors such as reducing alcohol consumption, minimising the risk of falls, addressing hearing problems, maintaining good mood, nutritional balance, and maintaining or improving physical activity.

Although there is no register of patients diagnosed with frailty, indicators of frailty such as risk scores, associated conditions such as osteoporosis, and downstream consequences of frailty such as hip fracture can be measured. Osteoporosis is an age-associated disease of decreasing bone mass, leading to increased risk of fractures. There are 647 people aged 50 years and over diagnosed with osteoporosis and registered to a Bexley Primary Care Network. The disease affects females at a significantly higher rate than males. Across all age groups (aged 50 years and over) in Bexley, a significantly higher proportion of females are diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Taking account of a large study of those with frailty risk we can apply a model to the age-specific resident populations of Bexley’s wards to allow us to estimate how many people are living with frailty in Bexley.⁵ In total, 22,384 people aged 50+ in Bexley are estimated to be living with some form of frailty: over 1 in 4 of the 50+ population (25.3%). The estimated 50+ prevalence varies from 19.1% in Thamesmead East to 28.5% in Sidcup. The majority, 17,173 people are estimated to be living with mild frailty, 4,307 with moderate frailty, and 904 with severe frailty. Frailty is strongly age-associated, so with an ageing population we can see that more will be required to support residents to stay well for longer and focus on prevention to ensure quality of life wherever people live in the borough.