Increased awareness of dementia is associated with its rising prevalence in an ageing population. Young-onset dementia (YOD) is diagnosed when symptoms occur under the age of 65. Although YOD is less common, with an estimated occurrence of 100 people aged 45-64 per 100,000 population, it can have a devastating effect on family members, who face a lack of age-appropriate information and support.

This article has two objectives: to describe an international multidisciplinary research project to develop and test an online resource for carers of people diagnosed with YOD and to reflect on the experience of working on the project from the perspective of an early career researcher. The author describes how the international nature of the study, the multidisciplinary context and liaison with participants have helped to consolidate the author’s learning and professional development.

Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1335

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

b.e.jones@surrey.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Jones B (2019) Young-onset dementia: meeting the information needs of carers. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2019.e1335

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank principle investigator and professor at the department of psychiatry and psychotherapy, Technische Universitat Munchen, Munich, Germany, Alexander Kurz, for leading the consortium and ensuring that early-career researchers were included, acknowledged and valued throughout the project. She would also like to thank UK research lead Heather Gage, professor at the Surrey Health Economics Centre, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, and University of Bradford professor Jan Oyebode, who collaborated and led the work on revising the English content of the programme

Published online: 16 April 2019