The true cost of care
Most people assume that care for a condition like dementia would be covered by the NHS and state, but that isn’t the case. Over the past two decades, the average cost of a nursing home place has almost doubled, with the typical cost of dementia care totalling around £100,000. Alzheimer’s Society wanted an emotionally stirring and highly shareable animation that would resonate with audiences and show, through the story of a family dealing with the devastating fallout of dementia, its ability to affect anyone at any time.
Balancing a broken system with messages of hope
We wanted to authentically combine a touching, emotional story of a family brought to their knees by dementia with tangible information about the broken care system. We had the opportunity to meet a family affected by dementia and conduct an intimate interview with the dementia patient’s wife and daughter. Despite difficulties we had to get across, it was important that we ended on a hopeful note. We developed a visual metaphor of a lighthouse in the distance that offers a glimmer of hope for the future, for both our characters and families yet to be affected by dementia.
Impact
The animation resulted in the highest number of campaigners to ever write to their MP for Alzheimer's Society - totalling over 10,000, and more than 75% of English MPs have been contacted 20 times or more.
Using animation to make complex ideas clear
Animation allows us to visualise things that are otherwise invisible – such as the hidden, astronomical costs of living with dementia. By giving abstract challenges a visual form as part of an emotive, story-based animation, we are able to make the need for systemic change impossible to ignore.
For organisations like the Alzheimer’s Society who are tackling such tricky issues, this approach helps bridge the gap between communicating information and establishing a heartfelt understanding of the subject matter.
