ABSTRACT
Younger people with dementia are frequently reluctant to receive elderly services when they are provided because they feel that they do not belong in a setting where other users are usually very much older and less active than they are. The historical division of health and social services, based upon the age of 65 years, has often resulted in patients, and carers, being marooned between general psychiatry, old age psychiatry and neurology. Patients and carers frequently report that insufficient information is given at, and after, diagnosis regarding the nature of the illness and the availability of support services. The assessment and management of patients with early onset dementia would be greatly improved if the complementary skills of both neurologists and old age psychiatrists were employed in the care of each patient. The dementia advisor will need to be trained to take into account the special needs of people with early onset dementia.
