House of Lords presentation: Cognitive benefits of bilingualism

In this session we focused on repositioning language learning and language use as a new key health and wellbeing asset, that should be of interest not only to learners and educators, but health professionals, policy makers, economists and politicians looking to lighten the burden of dementia care on society. To put this argument into perspective here are some key figures:

Cost of dementia:

• Current estimate UK Cost £26.3 billion
• In 2007 £17 billion
• EU cost: last report in 2014 167 billion Euros
• Projections for Europe by 2030: 250 billion Euros
• Cost per person in the UK around £32.000 a year.

According to Alzheimers society £80 million can be saved by improving hospital care.

How much can be saved by individuals putting off dementia by 3 – 5 years?