Ricky’s story – “Dementia has taken a big toll on us”
Ricky’s talks about how his Gran’s dementia diagnosis impacts his whole family and why he is supporting the ‘We live with dementia’ campaign.
Looking after a person with dementia can be challenging – and if you care for someone from a distance, you may experience a different set of challenges. For example, you may not be able to pop in regularly or respond to issues quickly.
Nevertheless, you can still play an important part in supporting the person you care for.
Caring from a distance is when you support and help someone who doesn’t live nearby.
This could include:
As dementia progresses, many people will lose the capacity to make informed decisions, so it’s important that they draw up a lasting power of attorney (LPA) while they are still able to.
This is a legal document that allows you and/or other nominated people to make health, care and financial decisions on the person’s behalf if they cannot do so.
You could also sign a ‘proxy agreement’ with the person’s GP so they can discuss their care and treatment with you. Ask the Practice Manager how to arrange this.
It’s helpful to keep all the information you have about the person with dementia in one place, such as a ring binder, a box file or a document on your computer.
In the next sections, we suggest information that you could include.
These tips may help the person you care for live safely and comfortably at home if you’re too far away to visit on a regular basis.
If the person with dementia is living in a care home, or is in hospital or a hospice, you can still support them even if you can’t often visit in person.
Taking care of yourself is important when you’re caring from a distance.
These tips might help:
To speak to a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse about caring from a distance or any other aspect of dementia, please call our free Dementia Helpline on 0800 888 6678 (Monday-Friday 9am-9pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm, every day except 25th December), email helpline@dementiauk.org or pre-book a phone or video appointment with an Admiral Nurse.
Our virtual clinics give you the chance to discuss any questions or concerns with a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse by phone or video call, at a time that suits you.
Ricky’s talks about how his Gran’s dementia diagnosis impacts his whole family and why he is supporting the ‘We live with dementia’ campaign.
As a carer for her mum, who has vascular dementia, Clare is taking part in our ‘We live with dementia’ campaign to make more people aware of the support our nurses offer.
When her partner Andy was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 52, Christine struggled to know where to turn. She is supporting our ‘We live dementia’ campaign to raise awareness of how our specialist dementia nurses can help.