Employers should do more to help staff with dementia keep working, according to researchers who aim to give advice to businesses on how to help sufferers.

A study at the West Of Scotland University will provide evidence on what aids would help people stay in employment after a dementia diagnosis.

The two-year project is looking for people who have been told they have dementia or mild cognitive impairment and are still working, or have left within the previous 18 months. Those who wish they could have continued to work are being interviewed about the attitudes of employers and co workers.

Funded by the Alzheimer's Society, the research is being carried out at the university's Institute Of Older Person's Health And Wellbeing, in collaboration with Heriot Watt University and others.

Researchers are interviewing individuals aged 50-69, as well as family members, employers and colleagues.

Responses will be analysed to focus on the attempts they made to cope with their dementia in the workplace and any problems their condition caused for employers and co-workers.

The study is already identifying supports and adjustments that would help people to extend their working lives, as well as the barriers that prevent employers from offering more assistance.

Professor Pauline Banks, lead academic on the project, said there was a pressing need for the research. "While increased life expectancy is to be welcomed, older age encompasses a range of challenges, including increased prevalence of long term conditions, one of which is dementia."

About 800,000 people in the UK have dementia, but Professor Banks predicts this will double within 20 years.