Good business sense: Employers’ role in keeping staff in work with dementia

A recent conference explored how keeping people with dementia in work for as long as possible and supporting their carers benefits both people and pound.

The event, supported by University of Northampton (UON), highlighted to business leaders how retaining staff with dementia can save time and money and benefit employees.

Held on Thursday 25 September, the Dementia in the Workplace Conference heard first-hand accounts from experts with personal experience of juggling work with a diagnosis of dementia and academics who outlined their research in this area.

Dementia is an umbrella term for various progressive brain conditions that impair memory, thinking, language, and mood.

There are around 1 million people with a diagnosis of dementia in the UK and around the same number of people caring for them; the number is expected to double by 2050.

Dementia is estimated to cost UK businesses £3.2 billion annually, based on figures released in 2024, with the primary driver being employees having to leave work or reduce their hours to care for loved ones.

Dementia in the Workplace was co-developed by the University, the Academy for Dementia Research and Education, Dementia Experts for Involvement Network-Young Dementia (DEfIN-YD), and Magna Park Estate (where the event was held).

UON dementia projects lead Professor Jackie Parkes (main picture, middle of front row) outlined the challenges for employers when supporting staff with a diagnosis of the condition.

The keynote speech came from Professor Louise Ritchie from Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice. Louise talked about what support helps employees with a diagnosis of dementia her research in this area.

The busy agenda included personal reflections from people with dementia and carers, who shared moving stories of love, loss and learning as they navigated the challenges dementia has presented them.

One of those guests, Claire Davies, a PhD Student at UON (pictured above, bottom left), is turning her experience of caring for a loved one with dementia and her former career in financial services into academic research. Her PhD is exploring the impact of transitioning to becoming a carer, which may involve those of working age. It is planned to complete in September 2027.

Claire shared what led her from finance to higher education: “My life changed when my dad received his diagnosis of dementia and I became a working age carer. As much as I loved him and threw myself into making sure he was OK, I was still employed full-time, so needed support myself.

“I had worked for a bank for 37 years, fittingly enough in a role focusing on vulnerable employees, but I felt what I needed was not reflected in our staff guidance and policies.

“What I discovered there was  a huge number of people in the same position of people in the same boat, leaving their jobs – especially women in midlife – because of the lack of managerial understanding about what support they need, valuable skilled staff with institutional knowledge end up leaving jobs they love and this costs businesses money and time in terms of rehiring and training staff.

“Before my career change, I updated staff policies and created training and education programmes for those impacted by dementia that benefitted both staff and customers, one half of what is my legacy.

“The other half is what that led to with my PhD research. I hope that the insights from my study will not only raise awareness and reduce stigma related to dementia, but also inform future services, support and education for unpaid dementia carers and towards the maintenance of positive health and wellbeing.”

Find out more about the work of the University’s Dementia Research and Innovation Centre.