Living with dementia

THE NUMBERS

It is estimated that 50 million people live with dementia worldwide, and that is likely to increase to 152 million by 2050.
In Canada, France, Germany, the UK and Sweden more than a third to half of those living with dementia live alone.
The Netherlands started dementia cafés in 1997 and now has more than 180 of them, with thousands of annual visitors.
A recent study showed that people’s fear of a dementia diagnosis is only second to their fear of cancer. In those over 55 more people are afraid of dementia than cancer.

THE DOS AND DON’TS

Wendy says the worst thing anyone can say to her is ‘hurry up’, as her brain can no longer work quickly.
Correcting or reminding a person with dementia of something they’ve clearly forgotten – such as saying ‘I told you that yesterday’ – is not helpful.
Allow someone with dementia to do as much for themselves as they can and want to. Resist the urge to say ‘let me do it, it’ll be quicker’.
If you have dementia, learn to accept help from friends, neighbours and support groups. It is important not to allow yourself to retreat from the world and live in isolation.
Support immediately after your diagnosis is the most important way to try and enable people to build resilience – seek out any local support groups. The charities Dementia UK (dementiauk.org) and the Alzheimer’s Society (alzheimers.org) both have search features that can help you do this easily.
Remember that only 7% of our communication is verbal – 55% is body language and 38% is tone of voice.
Even when people with dementia lose the power of speech they may still be able to dance, write, type, play music or enjoy other long-remembered skills.
Never use words such as ‘sufferer’, ‘demented’, ‘senile’, ‘burden’, ‘victim’, ‘plague’ or ‘living death’.

DIRECTORY

Live-in care agencies

247 Live-In Companions 247live-companions.com 0330 094 5767

Miracle Workers miracle-workers.co.uk 01873 881 306

Mulberry Live In Care Ltd. mulberryliveincare.co.uk 01380 870 270

PillarCarepillarcare.co.uk 020 7482 2188

Safehands Live-In Care safehandsliveincare.co.uk 020 3417 0090

Safehands Professional Care safehandscare.co.uk 0333 090 6886

New Age Care newagecare.co.uk 01926 675 967

Personal alarms

Acticheck acticheck.com 03452 575 080

Mobility aids

stiltz 0808 239 8889 stiltz.co.uk
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