Alzheimer's disease is confirmed as the most common cause of dementia in older people, followed by vascular dementia. However, DLB and FLD occur sufficiently often to be seen frequently in clinical practice and should be incorporated into future editions of standard diagnostic criteria.

BackgroundBackground Inthe UK,6% ofthose Inthe UK,6% ofthose aged 65 years and over were born abroad, aged 65 years and over were born abroad, mostofwhomnowliveininner-cityareas.It mostofwhomnowliveininner-cityareas.It hasbeen suggestedthatethnicelders are hasbeen suggestedthatethnicelders are particularly vulnerableto mentalillness. particularly vulnerableto mentalillness. Aims Aims To compare the prevalence ofTo compare the prevalence of dementia and depressionin older migrants dementia and depressionin older migrants withthose born in the UK. with those born in the UK. MethodMethod A cross-sectional community A cross-sectional community study of1085 people aged 65 years study of1085 people aged 65 years or older in an inner-London borough. or older in an inner-London borough.

The SF-12 and HSQ-12 are acceptable and valid as health status instruments in large community-based studies of older people. The HSQ-12, but not the SF-12, is acceptable and valid for people with dementia.

Most older people living in 24-hour care settings have dementia. We employed qualitative interviews to explore positive and negative aspects of the experience of family carers, staff and people with dementia living in 10 homes in London and West Essex, selected to cover the full range of 24-hour long-term care settings. The interview used open semi-structured questions. We interviewed 21 residents, 17 relatives and 30 staff and five main themes were identified: Privacy and choice; relationships (abuse and vulnerability); activities; physical environment; and expectations of a care environment by carers, should they one day live in long-term care themselves. Despite being no longer responsible for the day-to-day care of the residents there was a continuing level of psychological distress among some relatives. We found that residents with a range of severity of dementia were able to participate. The most striking theme from their interviews was the need for choice. All groups talked about improving lines of communication amongst residents, relatives and staff and about the importance of activities. We recommend that homes should set up formal structures for engaging with user and carer views at all levels. This would mean relatives on the board, and regular meetings for residents, relatives, advocates and staff. This should lead to cultural changes where residents are perceived as individuals and care is provided in a more flexible way. There should be a programme of activities in each 24-hour care setting, which all care staff are given time to implement. These activities need to be tailored to the individual resident rather than the whole group.