The good news is that we're now living longer than ever before. But it also means there are more of us living with health problems, one of the most rapidly increasing of which is dementia.

There are already over 750,000 people in the UK with dementia, a number that’s set to increase to 1.7 million by 2051. In fact 1 in 3 of us who lives to 65 will have some form of dementia before we die. And this isn’t just a UK issue. There are an estimated 35.6 million people with dementia worldwide. By 2050 this figure is expected to rise to over 115 million.

A catch-all term for a number of brain diseases and conditions that currently have no cure, dementia is indiscriminate, crossing cultural, economic, social and geographical boundaries, and degenerative, affecting amongst other things our memory, our relationships, and the way we communicate with the world.

And it’s not just those with dementia affected by a diagnosis; family and friends, many of whom take on the role of carer, will be living with it too. But there’s a difference between simply living and living well.

The Design Council and the Department of Health are looking to fund the next generation of products and services that completely re-think what living with dementia means. We know good design helps people make the most of their lives, so we're challenging you to make life with dementia better.

We want teams that can both design and deliver innovative solutions that will make a real difference to people’s lives. The winning teams will get a share of £360,000 as well as tailored professional support to develop their prototypes over a five month period. If this sounds like a challenge you want to get involved in watch the video below and  head over to http://designchallenges.ning.com/ for more information.