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
◆ 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 080Mobility aids
◆ stiltz 0808 239 8889 stiltz.co.uk
