EDF and Alzheimer’s Society Mark Dementia Action Week with New Steps to Improve Accessibility
EDF is marking Dementia Action Week by building on its existing partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, with a clear focus on making its energy services more accessible and easier to use for people affected by dementia.
New research by Alzheimer’s Society[1] involving more than 1,300 people affected by dementia highlights the scale of the challenge. Many face barriers using digital services, with 81% reporting difficulties with online systems. challenges can affect people’s safety, independence and wellbeing at home. 50% have struggled to pay their energy bills in the past year, including 21% who say they struggle regularly, while over half lack confidence carrying out basic tasks such as checking bills or switching suppliers.
Simplifying communication and digital access
In response, EDF is working with Alzheimer’s Society to improve how customers interact with its services. This includes simplifying communications through clearer, jargon-free language, exploring bill formats, and improving how key information is presented across its website. Changes to EDF’s digital experience have focused on making navigation more straightforward, reducing reliance on complex menus, and ensuring contact routes and support for vulnerable customers are easier to find.
Making support services easier to access
EDF has also taken steps to make support services more visible and accessible. This includes clearer explanations of the Priority Services Register and more proactive signposting for customers who may need additional help. Work is also underway to improve how customers engage with smart meters and in-home display units. While these tools can help people understand their energy use, feedback shows they can sometimes feel confusing or overwhelming. EDF is using this insight to explore simpler displays, clearer cost information, and better guidance for both customers and carers.
Improving support for carers and using lived experience
Supporting carers is another key priority. Many people managing accounts on behalf of someone with dementia, including those with Lasting Power of Attorney, experience complex and inconsistent processes. Services such as Alzheimer’s Society Specialist Lasting Power of Attorney Support provide expert guidance to help people affected by dementia in England and Wales set up an LPA, highlighting the importance of early planning. EDF is working to simplify these journeys, improve consistency, and make it easier for carers to access and manage accounts on behalf of others. These improvements are being shaped directly by people with lived experience. Through insight sessions with people living with dementia and carers, EDF is gaining a clearer understanding of real world challenges and using this to inform practical changes across its services.
Joe Souto, Director of Retail at EDF, said: “Managing energy should be simple and stress free, but for people affected by dementia it can quickly become overwhelming. We have a responsibility to remove those barriers. By working closely with Alzheimer’s Society and listening to real experiences, we are driving changes to ensure our services are more inclusive and customers can feel more confident and in control at home.”
Michelle Dyson, CEO at Alzheimer’s Society added: “Dementia devastates lives and affects us all. Too often, people affected by dementia are excluded from everyday services that many of us take for granted. Partnerships like this are essential to changing that. By working together, we can turn insight into action and help ensure services are designed in a way that truly reflects the needs of people living with dementia and those who support them.”
Alongside these service improvements, EDF colleagues have raised over £500,000 for Alzheimer’s Society, funding vital services and groundbreaking research to help end the devastation caused by dementia.
For more information about the support available, customers can visit: https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/PSR
If you or someone you know is worried about dementia visit the Alzheimer’s Society website: alzheimers.org.uk
[1] Research was conducted by Alzheimer’s Society / Yonder Data Solutions via an online survey of 1,368 people affected by dementia between 25 and 29 September 2025.
About EDF
EDF is driving the transition towards An Electric Britain – a secure, affordable, low-carbon future for everyone. As Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, we are investing more than £100 million weekly in Britain’s electricity infrastructure. We supply millions of customers with electricity and help homes and businesses switch to electricity for heating, transport and industrial processes.
We operate five nuclear power stations and more than 35 onshore wind farms and three offshore wind farms. Since 2009, EDF has invested almost £9 billion in the nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The five generating stations currently supply about 12% of the UK’s electricity demand.
EDF is building the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. We are a minority investor (12.5%) in and major supplier to a replica plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes. EDF Group companies Framatome and Arabelle Solutions have a presence in the UK and manufacture critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and turbines.
EDF is enabling its 5 million customers, both in business and at home, to choose electric solutions that save cash and carbon, whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing solar panels or a heat pump. In 2025, EDF’s Customers business was ranked as one of the Sunday Times’s Best Place to Work.
It is also one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy through EDF power solutions UK and Ireland. We have more than 2GW of renewable generation in operation and over 10GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage.
We are one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the UK and Ireland’s largest technical service providers.
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