People from different ethnic minorities in the UK are experiencing a steeper increase in dementia diagnosis compared to their white counterparts but are more likely to have a higher risk of dementia, to be diagnosed at a younger age and to die earlier from the condition. These disparities suggest the need for urgent interventions to prevent and reduce dementia risk. Despite the significant presence of Chinese people in the UK, there has been little dementia research involving them, so this study is the first in the UK to focus on Chinese communities living in five major cities. Using a cultural adaptation theoretical framework, we adapted Alzheimer’s Research UK’s virtual dementia prevention campaign Think Brain Health to meet the needs of Chinese people. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluate knowledge of dementia and brain health activities, and intention regarding help-seeking. We performed descriptive, chi-square and thematic analysis; 54 Chinese people completed the intervention, with 85 per cent aged over 60 years. Over half (56%) could not speak, read or write in English. Our results showed significant improvements in knowledge of dementia and brain health, and an improved intention to seek help and information. All participants reported a positive experience of the culturally tailored intervention and valued working with dementia researchers who were able to deliver the intervention in Chinese languages. Future work involving Chinese communities in the UK will need to identify an appropriate but non-stigmatizing Chinese term for dementia.

Successful ageing continues to be a key theme in contemporary ageing discourses, where good physical and cognitive health in older age is an individualised responsibility. This paper explores how Australian aged care stakeholder discourse contributes to constructions of self-responsibility for brain health and dementia prevention in older persons. Brain health advice messages about diet, exercise and ‘brain fitness’ by aged care stakeholders are argued to construct a moral framework of ‘brainwork practices’ to prevent or delay dementia. This study performed discourse analysis of a sample of public online aged care stakeholder documents (N = 170) to reveal three key concepts in discursive constructions of dementia. The first concept characterises dementia as a disastrous force to be opposed; the second is a biomedical concept of dementia as preventable (or able to be delayed) in a ‘successful’ older age, while the third reflects neurocultural ideas that fetishise perfect memory as the best defence against cognitive decline and dementia. Identifying this matrix of responsibilising ‘brainwork practices’ messages by aged care stakeholders makes a contribution within social gerontology to revealing neoliberal conceptions of older age as an outcome of lifestyle and consumer choices, where dementia is constructed as ‘failed’ or ‘unsuccessful’ ageing.