Looking After Someone With Dementia

Caring for someone with dementia can be challenging and stressful. But with the right support, it can be rewarding and often satisfying. When caring for a partner, parent or close friend with dementia you may not see yourself as their carer, but its important to ensure that you have have the support to cope with it.

• Ensure you are registered as a carer with your GP

• Apply for a carer's assessment

• Check if you're eligible for benefits for carers

• Find out about training courses that could help you

As a carer you may need to assist with eating and drinking, shopping, gardening, household chores, using the toilet and personal hygiene. It's important to support the person with these tasks, rather than take them over, so they can retain their skills, abilities and active social life. In order to help you can place memory aids around the home so the person remembers where things are and how to do them. This could be labels and signs on toilet doors, on drawers and cupboards or instructions on how to make a cup of tea or prepare lunch using pictures and words.

Communication is a key thing when looking after someone with dementia, you may find you have to change the way you talk to and listen to the person you care for. Tips for this include:

• speaking clearly and slowly, using short sentences

• making eye contact with the person when they're talking or asking questions

• giving them time to respond, because they may feel pressured if you try to speed up their answers

• encouraging them to join in conversations with others, where possible

• letting them speak for themselves during discussions about their welfare or health issues

• trying not to patronise them, or ridicule what they say

• acknowledging what they have said, even if they do not answer your question, or what they say seems out of context – show that you've heard them and encourage them to say more about their answer

• giving them simple choices – avoid creating complicated choices or options for them

• using other ways to communicate – such as rephrasing questions because they cannot answer in the way they used to

Caring for a partner, relative or close friend with dementia is demanding and can be stressful. You must remember that your needs as a carer are as important as the person you're caring for.

Charities and voluntary organisations provide valuable support and advice on their websites and via their helplines:

• Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Connect support line on 0333 150 3456

• Age UK Advice Line on 0800 678 1602 (free)

• Independent Age Helpline on 0800 319 6789 (free)

• Dementia UK's Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline on 0800 888 6678 (free)

• Carers Direct helpline on 0300 123 1053 (free)

• Carers UK Helpline on 0800 808 7777 (free)

• Dementia Carers Count has a virtual carers centre that provides a range of online support and resources