Dementia care during COVID-19

According to an interactive online tool that estimates the potential number of deaths from COVID-19 in a population, by age group, in individual countries and regional groupings worldwide under a range of scenarios, most of those who have died were older adults, most of whom had underlying health problems.2 Globally, more than 50 million people have dementia, and one new case occurs every 3 s.3 Dementia has emerged as a pandemic in an ageing society.4 The double hit of dementia and COVID-19 pandemics has raised great concerns for people living with dementia. To lessen the chance of infection among older people in nursing homes, more local authorities are banning visitors to nursing homes and long-term care facilities.5 In January, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs implemented similar social-distancing measures.6 As a result, older residents lost face-to-face contact with their family members. [...]mental health professionals, social workers, nursing home administrators, and volunteers should deliver mental health care for people living with dementia collaboratively.