Living with dementia can have a big emotional, social, psychological and practical impact on a person. Many people with dementia describe these impacts as a series of losses and adjusting to them is challenging, not just for the person diagnosed with dementia, but also on their family and carers.
This section aims to give people a better understanding of what it is like to have dementia and how it impacts those around them. It looks at ways to support someone to live well with the condition, based on that understanding. It also looks at how supporting someone with dementia can affect carers and the things that carers and family can do to support themselves.
When you’re caring for someone else, it’s easy to overlook your own needs. But looking after your health and making time for you can not only help you feel better, it can also help you to cope better with your caring role.
Caring for someone with dementia can present many challenges and may lead to feelings of guilt, sadness, confusion or anger. Unlike with other conditions, it can be difficult to share these feelings with someone with dementia, leaving carers and family members feeling very isolated.
In the early stages a person may not feel that they are actually a carer because they see themselves as a husband, wife, partner or another role first and feel that looking after the person with dementia is just something that they should do.
When supporting a person with dementia, it can be helpful for carers to have an understanding of the impact the condition has on that person. This includes understanding how the person might think and feel, as these things will affect how they behave. When working with families and carers, providing them with some knowledge about dementia, such as the information discussed in the previous sections, can be very useful in supporting them to understand what the can expect.
It is very important that families and carers can access support and at times may not recognise when this is required.
Working closely to support carers is a vital part of supporting a person with dementia and working closely with other agencies is essential to ensure that they have access to all the support that is available.
Dementia affects people all over the world. The following video describes the experiences of some carers of people with dementia in Australia. It explores the experience of dementia from the perspective of carers.