Data on my mind: dementia, inequality, and mental health

Dementia affects nearly 1 million people in the UK, yet up to 45% of cases are linked to modifiable risk factors like high blood pressure, hearing loss, and social isolation. Crucially, these risks are not shared equally; where you live, your income, and your ethnicity significantly dictate your health outcomes.

In this session, we present findings from a new study mapping dementia risk across England’s local authorities. Our data reveals a "postcode lottery" where deprived areas face a higher burden of preventable dementia.

This session features a collaborative presentation by two lead researchers alongside an expert by experience, providing both clinical data and human context. The talk will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A, where we invite the audience to explore how local interventions can tackle these national inequalities.

Depression and anxiety are common in older adults and are linked to a higher risk of developing dementia. We already know that people who walk more tend to feel less depressed and anxious, but most of this research has focused on people without memory complaints We know much less about whether this relationship also applies to older adults who are at higher risk of dementia. In this talk, I will share findings from a study involving over 600 older adults who experience memory concerns or mild cognitive difficulties. Using smartwatches, we measured how many steps they took each day over a two-week period to explore whether their step count was associated with their levels of anxiety and depression.

We found that people who walked more had fewer symptoms of depression, which aligns with findings from previous research. However, we also found something unexpected: that higher step counts were linked to higher levels of anxiety. This tells us that walking more does not always mean better mental health for older adults with memory concerns. Instead, people may be moving more because they are feeling restless, unsettled, or anxious. By using everyday movement data from devices like smartwatches, we may be able to identify depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults at an earlier stage.