Dementia Awareness Week: Alzheimer's Society Launches Powerful Advert Showing Isolation Of The Illness

Powerful Ad Shows Just How Isolating Dementia Can Be

Dementia is an isolating illness, and can be increasingly distressing for patients and loved ones when connections begin to break down.

To highlight this, the Alzheimer's Society has launched a powerful short film called 'Gone'.

The advert, which was launched to coincide with Dementia Awareness Week, shows that through a combination of the right care, advice and research, dementia sufferers can stay connected to the people they love for longer.

Dementia affects more than 850,000 people in the UK - two thirds of which are women.

While many associate the condition with ageing, there are actually 40,000 young people in the UK living with the illness.

The advertisement was created by Fallon London and shows a man sitting with his family and chatting over dinner. Suddenly, conversations become background noise and the man slowly becomes disconnected from his family until he's completely on his own.

His wife then touches his hand and he becomes connected with his loved ones once more.

Linda Seaward, head of marketing for Alzheimer’s Society, said: "It’s really important that people not only understand the isolation and disconnection experienced by many people with dementia, but know that Alzheimer’s Society is here for them.

"The film does this job beautifully."

Meanwhile, Jeremy Hughes, CEO at Alzheimer’s Society added: "850,000 people in the UK have dementia, and people over 50 now fear dementia more than any other health condition, including cancer. Despite this, understanding of the condition is poor and too few people know that there’s help and support available.

"Through our advertising campaign, we want to convey some of the experience of living with dementia, to get people talking about it, and to let anyone worried about or affected by dementia to know that, as dementia experts, we are here for them."

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