IT'S time to confront dementia - so what will your message be?

Dementia, in its many forms, currently affects more than 5,000 people in the Bradford district. It touches the lives of people who have the condition as well as those around them.

Next week is Dementia Awareness Week and the Alzheimer’s Society is challenging people across the district to say how they will 'confront dementia', posting their message with a selfie on social media.

On Wednesday, May 18 charity staff will be taking to the streets of Bradford, Ilkley and Keighley, from 10am to 6pm, with a mobile photo booth. Three teams from the Alzheimer’s Society will be competing to see which group can recruit the maximum number of people towards a target of 300 districtwide.

Bradford Council is also joining in the bid to confront dementia and staff will use the photo booth when it calls at City Hall at 5.30pm that day.

Other stops include the University of Bradford, Airedale Shopping Centre in Keighley, Cliffe Castle, Keighley Bus Station, Menston Railway Station, Tesco Ilkley and Ilkley Brewery.

This year’s Dementia Awareness Week is aimed at helping people to face up to dementia and share their worries about the condition by addressing it directly and coming to the Alzheimer's Society for information and support. Dementia is a frightening prospect for many people, who may not know what help and support is available. The Alzheimer's Society helps people living with dementia to live well - because it believes that life doesn't end when dementia begins. Dementia Awareness Week is an opportunity for us to increase our understanding of dementia and how we can be more aware of other people with the condition.

Paul Smithson, services manager for Alzheimer’s Society in Bradford said dementia is now the biggest fear of people aged over 55. He said the photo booth challenge would promote open discussion.

"We’d love to see as many people as possible across the district ‘confront dementia’ and have a quick photo taken. By openly talking about dementia we hope to tackle the many myths and misunderstandings about the condition and get across that life doesn’t end when dementia begins," he said.

“We want to get the message across that everyone can play their part in supporting people living with dementia in our communities, by making our towns and cities more dementia friendly, by campaigning for better support or by gaining a better understanding of the condition by becoming a Dementia Friend."

The Alzheimer’s Society is also asking people to confront their concerns by addressing dementia directly in a letter, or sharing their thoughts and experiences at alzheimers.org.uk/DAW or on social media using #DAW2016.

Letters could address fears about a loved one, such as: "Dear Dementia, Mum found her car keys in the cutlery drawer - and she didn't know what the keys were for." Or it could be a case of simply finding out more: "Dear Dementia, it's time I found out more about you."

According to Alzheimer's Society research, 850,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia and the charity predicts that in less than ten years a million people will be living with the condition. This will soar to two million people by 2051.

Over this year 225,000 will develop dementia - that’s one person every three minutes. It costs the UK economy over £26 billion per year; the equivalent of more than £30,000 per person with dementia.

Dementia is an umbrella term and refers to several types of conditions. Some of the more common types of dementia are Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, Lewy Body dementia and fronto-temporal dementia, which includes Pick's disease.

The Alzheimer’s Society - which champions the rights of people living with dementia and the millions of people who are for them - funds research into the cause, care, cure and prevention of all types of dementia and has committed to spend at least £100 million on research over the next decade.

The charity supports people so they can live well with dementia.

* Dementia Awareness Week runs from May 15 - 21.

For more information about the Alzheimer's Society call 0330 333 0804 or visit alzheimers.org.uk.

The National Dementia Helpline is 0300 222 1122.