Dementia For Dummies - UK

Chapter 16

Choosing Ongoing Care for Your Loved One

In This Chapter

Making an informed and measured decision about suitable care

Altering the person’s home to meet her needs

Picking the right care home

For both people with early dementia and their carers, the subject of care can be a tricky one. The phrase ‘don’t you dare put me in a home’ is one I commonly hear my elderly patients utter to their relatives; they think that if they have to move into one, they’ll be out of sight and therefore out of mind.

For carers, making the decision to place someone in a care home invariably involves feelings of guilt. They don’t want their loved one to be unhappy, but know that the increasingly complex needs of the person with dementia make it difficult to continue to provide care at home, especially because carers may well also have jobs to hold down and their own children to look after.

Clearly, the financial aspect also has to be considered. What care can the person with dementia afford; will she have to sell her house; and will there be any inheritance left for the family afterwards?

These are all important considerations, but the bottom line is that the needs of the person with dementia ...