Brain Health Clinic: Supporting our aging population with personalised interventions
Our Brain Health Clinic, which runs in conjunction with King’s College London, was recently shortlisted for this year’s RCPsych Awards 2025 for Psychiatric Team of the Year: Research/Quality Improvement.
Following from this incredible success, we spoke to the clinic to find out more about their pioneering work to support our service users with cognitive impairments to have a better quality of life.
Around 746,000 people in the UK, aged 65 and over, are estimated to have dementia. This is equivalent to around 1.3% of the UK population. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), is even more common, estimated to effect up to 20% of older adults.
Dementia is widely recognised as one of the most significant health risks for older adults but services like this can support people in this journey and in some cases, prevent and prepare people who are at risk.
A small team with a big impact
The dedicated multidisciplinary team operates a virtual clinic two days a week, and support people with a diagnosis of MCI, a condition where someone is experiencing memory or cognitive problems that are not yet severe enough to be dementia.
Devon Hammond, Lead Clinician and Team Lead said: “We are a very small team, but we take referrals from local memory services of people they have diagnosed with MCI. Generally, if they suspect the person may continue to decline to the point of dementia or appears to be an emerging Alzheimer’s disease, they refer them to us so we can investigate further.”
The team offer assessments, similar to those by the memory services, to compare cognitive testing results but also get an understanding of the impact these changes are having on their day to day lives.
The four main pillars of the service are:
- Assessing the risk of developing dementia in those with cognitive complaints
- Communicating the risk
- Providing personalised intervention for the prevention of dementia
- Offering cognitive enhancement interventions where appropriate
One service user said: “I was pleased that I was seen by the team very easily and followed up with eager enthusiasm. The team felt that my diagnosis of MCI needed to be changed, and this was done without delay, giving me and my family peace of mind."
Innovations in research and development
Research is one of the key elements of the Brain Health Clinic and the team are actively involved in ground-breaking studies in the field.
Everyone who is referred to the service is given the opportunity to join the research studies and with more people involved, the team can work more effectively toward early diagnosis or reassurance.
The team are currently leading the way with studies exploring the use of blood tests to identify biomarkers for Alzheimer’s. While they aren’t there yet, this research could revolutionise the way we approach early diagnosis and prevention.
With this, if a person has the markers, this information will be shared and their current cognitive impairments will be explained. Depending on the outcome, the team will keep patients in their care as an outpatient for up to a year with regular reviews to manage the progress of the impairments, offering advice and guidance every step of the way.
Being involved in this research means that patients with the biomarkers will be eligible for early studies for disease modifying medication – giving them the best chance of seeing a noticeable change to their conditions.
Early access to new interventions
The clinic runs a number of up-and-coming studies and interventions to support their clients. They are currently working on two key pieces of research.
The first is an 8 week study looking at the benefits of guided mindfulness for people with MCI. Mindful practices have shown promise in managing stress and improving the mental health outcomes for individuals with MCI by reducing stress, enhancing awareness and improving cognitive functions, and have shown positive early indications for patients.
The second is exploring the benefits of brain-training games to support patients with their cognition and offer them tips for going forward. While this is a short study, it demonstrates some of the less invasive interventions that are easy for clients to integrate into their day to day lives.
One client involved in the study said: “All the games were fun, and it really makes me feel better in myself.”
Focusing on early diagnosis and better outcomes
Devon said: “Dementia and MCI is probably the biggest health issue we're facing with our ageing population, especially when caused by Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s unclear whether people are developing it younger or whether we're just getting better at diagnosing MCI, likely a combination of both. This is what we need people to draw attention to, early diagnosis. The condition heavily affects those with it but it doesn't just affect the person, it affects all their loved ones, it affects their community, it affects everyone in their lives. The overall goal for us is to be a strong pioneer of this service, see it replicated in other trusts and ultimately, help as many people as possible.”
