There are currently more than 55 million people with dementia in the world (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2023), with nearly 10 million new cases being identified each year. Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) predict that the number of people living with dementia (PLWD) in the UK will rise to over 1.1 million by 2030.
Within Wales, the increase in PLWD is equally as stark, with Welsh Government (WG) estimates indicating that there are 42,000 people over the age of 65 living with dementia in Wales (WG, 2024); Alzheimer’s Society Cymru predicts that figure is set to rise by 37% to almost 70,000 people by 2040 (Alzheimer’s Society and Carnall Farrar, 2024).
In May 2025, the North Wales Regional Partnership Board (NWRPB) published its North Wales Dementia Strategy responding directly to the All-Wales Dementia Pathways Standards (WG, 2021), with its four workstreams outlined below:
- Community Engagement, with a focus on identifying what good dementia care should look like
- Memory Assessment & Learning Disabilities work around increasing diagnostic rates, reducing wait times, identifying methods of consistent data capture, providing interventions post diagnosis
- Dementia Friendly Hospital Charter, putting the focus on meaningful activities to reduce the risk of de-conditioning and prolonged stay and embedding the Butterfly Scheme which provides a system of hospital care for PLWD or those who simply find that their memory isn’t as reliable as it used to be, to evidence of how wards are aligning to the Charter, improving the environments to support orientation, and identifying an appropriate level of training for staff to meet the needs of people affected by dementia
- Workforce and Organisational Development, identifying appropriate training for staff to meet the needs of people affected by dementia
The NWRPB Dementia Strategy builds a picture of North Wales and, by county breakdown, Gwynedd, in terms of what is known statistically about the region. It incorporates the extensive NWRPB Listening Campaign carried out through 2024 and aligns the results to what is known about service provision in the region and what can be done for future service delivery and patient care.
The 8 key priority areas raised via the Listening Campaigns were:
- Access to care and support
- Person centred care
- Support for unpaid carers
- Access to services
- Groups and activities
- Dementia friendly communities
- Transport
- Welsh language
The NWRPB is also, alongside partners including Dementia Actif Gwynedd, Dementia North Wales and Cyngor Gwynedd, developing The Dementia Gwynedd Community Directory to signpost PLWD and their care teams to relevant local support. As such, this report aligns with the core need to collate and promote the availability of the current provision of dementia services and support across Gwynedd, which is provided to PLWD, their family and / or their carers, as well as linking to the areas identified through the Listening Campaign. The Listening Campaign included in this review relates to the communities in and around Tywyn, Gwynedd, and was undertaken in February 2024; it includes input from 231 service users and residents.
This report will also consider examples of best practice in the delivery of dementia support from an international perspective, concluding with recommendations on how to further develop current provision to make Gwynedd an inspirational dementia friendly county.