Dementia screening will be offered as part of your NHS Health checks and dementia screening will be specifically documented in these checks.

The NHS Health Check is a health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74. It's designed to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia. As we get older, we have a higher risk of developing one of these conditions. An NHS Health Check helps find ways to lower this risk. Given our growing understanding of brain health and ways we can decrease our risk of developing dementia, providing people in mid-life with information and opportunities to improve their brain health may reduce the number of people living with dementia in the UK - for more information see here

In 2016/17 a pilot project was run to explore the feasibility of extending the NHS Health Check for 40-64 year olds to include a dementia risk reduction component. Focusing on the message ‘what’s good for your heart is good for your brain’, the advice included stopping smoking, being physically active, eating healthily, maintaining a healthy weight, drinking less alcohol, connecting with people and keeping mentally active. Of the 164 people who recalled the dementia messaging in a follow-up survey, 75% said they were more likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risk of developing dementia, while 80% said the advice would have some impact on their behaviour. - the full report can be found here

The following best practice and guidelines are available:

• National Institute of health and Care Excellence guidelines NICE NG 16 2015 "Develop the NHS Health Check programme to promote opportunities in mid‑life to reduce the behavioural risk factors for dementia, disability and frailty by: tailoring the advice component of the NHS Health Check programme for different age groups adding dementia prevention advice to all health checks" The NHS Health Check is a National programme that aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, and raise awareness of dementia both across the population and within high risk and vulnerable groups. An NHS Health Check is made up of three key components: risk assessment, risk awareness and risk management. During the risk assessment standardised tests are used to measure key risk factors and establish the individual’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Where an individual is over the age of 65 the practitioner will also raise awareness of dementia with the patient. The outcome of the assessment is then used to raise awareness of cardiovascular risk factors, as well as inform a discussion on, and agreement of, the lifestyle and medical approaches best suited to managing the individual’s health risk.
• NHS Health Check dementia leaflet - The NHS Health Check dementia leaflet has been developed to support the dementia information given to those who attend an NHS Health Check appointment. - you can order these leaflets online and in several languages here
• You can view data on uptake of Health Checks: here
• You can also find resources for NHS Health Checks and dementia: here