About the Project

NHS Flourishing for the Future: Caring for People Living with Dementia explores how design-led research can support the UK government’s mission of increasing the proportion of people receiving a dementia diagnosis within the first 18 weeks of referral to 92% by 2029. Current diagnosis rates sit at 46.8% (UK Government, 2025) with significant regional variation (Alzheimer’s Society, 2023). In order to identify the systems, services, research, methods, and interventions that are needed to reach this target, this scoping project aims to:

• Assess how UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and AHRC-funded design-led research has contributed to the dementia landscape, from both a pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis perspective, and identify where design-led research might achieve significant impact.
• Amplify the expert voices in dementia, including researchers and people with lived experience, to identify resources and infrastructures needed as well as opportunities to support timely diagnosis and broader post-diagnosis dementia care.

Accordingly, this project outlines the principal challenges in dementia diagnosis, synthesises key findings that highlight areas requiring urgent contribution by design-led research, and concludes with actionable recommendations to address these challenges in a timely manner.