Relatives to a person with dementia
In health care, many life-changing events take place in a person's life. People are born and people die. In between, many difficult moments can take place in health care, life-changing events when life drastically changes where people have to face the existential living conditions, meaninglessness, loneliness and dependence on others. The task of the care and nursing staff is not only to cure and relieve but also to comfort. For a demented person, the realization of the existential issues may be clear at the beginning of the course of the disease, but disappears to some extent as the disease develops. For relatives the mourning may come and go during the progress of the illness. Sorrow mixed with a great deal of work helping the person with dementia is often a draining process for relatives. The role of the care worker is not only to support the person with dementia but also be a support to the family.