With the right support, someone who has dementia may be able to continue living at home for a long time.
Although having dementia can reduce a person’s ability to live independently, there is a variety of support available to help them. If you care for someone with dementia and want to help them to continue to live at home, you can find advice and resources below in the following areas:
Support services that can help people with dementia
For some people with dementia, a valuable form of help could come from a paid careworker to come in to their home to help out with practical, hands-on tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, shopping and personal care.
For more information, read about possible care services in your home.
Support can also come in the form of assistance from the local authority, such as a Meals on Wheels service or laundry and library services. Ask your local authority for more details.
Helping someone with dementia to feed themselves
When it comes to mealtimes, a person with dementia may stop recognising the food in front of them. They may also struggle to use a knife and fork if their dementia affects their physical co-ordination, and find it hard to chew or swallow food. Further behaviour problems can result in the person with dementia refusing help with eating.
These factors can result in a limited diet for someone with dementia, which, in extreme cases, can lead to malnutrition. However, there are steps that can be taken to prevent this from happening.
For tips on supporting a person with dementia at mealtimes and an explanation of why changes in eating habits can occur, read this factsheet from Alzheimer’s UK about eating and drinking.
Read more about supporting someone who has nutrition and feeding problems.
Dressing someone with dementia
As dementia progresses, a person’s concentration and co-ordination decreases and they need more help with dressing. It’s important that they are able to carry on deciding what they wear for as long as possible, but if they do need help, try to offer it with tact and sensitivity.
Make sure the person with dementia wears clothes that are suitably warm or cool, depending on the weather, that they have on layers if necessary and that they are dry.
If you’re helping them to buy new clothes, encourage them to choose clothes that are easier to manage – for example, clothes that have poppers instead of buttons.
Read this factsheet on dressing from the Alzheimer’s Society, which includes tips for helping someone to dress and helping them to choose comfortable clothing.
Helping someone with dementia to wash and bathe
For most adults, washing is a personal and private activity, so it can be hard for the person with dementia to adjust to having someone help them with this. It can also be challenging for you as a carer to adjust to this level of caring, if you’re new to it. Try to approach it in a positive and open-minded way, as this will help to prevent it from being a difficult experience for either of you.
There are also practical things to consider. A person might have difficulty getting in and out of the bath, lose recognition of the importance of personal hygiene, or resist help because of a desire for dignity and autonomy.
Read advice about looking after someone else's personal hygiene, including tips for washing, bathing, bed baths and more.
This factsheet from the Alzheimer’s Society on washing and bathing has tips for helping someone to wash, including encouraging independence and creating a relaxing environment.
Help with sitting, standing, moving and lifting
If you care for someone with advanced dementia, there will be many situations where you will need to physically handle them – for example, to help them in and out of bed, the bath, going to the toilet, or perhaps to lift them up if they have fallen.
However, unless you take the necessary precautions while lifting or moving someone, you may be at risk of injury.
Read this advice on the best approaches to moving and handling someone with a mobility problem, including lifting techniques.
If you start having to move someone regularly because they are unable to move themselves, contact your local authority to ask for a care and support needs assessment for the person with dementia. This is the best way to access help, equipment and training for moving a person.
Mobility problems in dementia
If the person with dementia develops mobility problems, they may benefit from using a wheelchair outside the home. They are more likely to need an attendant-propelled wheelchair, in which case, as a carer, you will need to consider what works for you as well as the person sitting in it. This includes issues such as whether you want a wheelchair that can be folded to fit into a car.
Follow these tips on choosing a wheelchair.
Safety at home and dementia
Someone with dementia is more at risk of being involved in accidents at home, particularly as the dementia progresses. This is because their sense of balance and ability to react quickly is reduced. Their memory and judgement are also both increasingly affected.
Stress and confusion experienced by the person with dementia, or tiredness on the part of their carers, can also increase the chances of an accident occurring. Furthermore, having memory loss and difficulty learning new things means that someone with dementia may forget where they are, where things are and how things work.
For all these reasons, it’s worth taking simple steps to help the person with dementia to navigate their home more easily and safely. But try not to make major changes overnight, as this can be alarming or upsetting to the person with dementia.
Read this factsheet from the Alzheimer’s Society about safety in the home. It includes tips on avoiding accidents by looking at areas such as lighting, equipment, dangerous substances and te risk of fire at home.
Installing specialist equipment and facilities can go a long way towards helping someone with dementia to continue living at home safely.
Read this factsheet from the Alzheimer’s Society about equipment, adaptations and improvements to the home. The best way to get this equipment is by getting a care and support needs assessment for the person you're looking after.
How telecare technology can help with dementia
Telecare is a term used to describe personal alarms and health-monitoring devices that can help people with disabilities and long-term conditions to live more independently. Telecare can be particularly helpful if you’re caring for someone with dementia.
Telecare and telehealth services can give peace of mind to the person with dementia and their relatives, by confirming that they are safe at home and their health is stable. For example, telecare can help reassure you – from a distance – that the person you care for has got out of bed (through a bed pressure sensor) but hasn’t left the house (front door sensor).
Advance care planning for people with dementia
"Advance care planning" is a way to make sure that people get the support they want. Advance care planning means that everyone involved in looking after someone with dementia, including doctors, care workers, family carers and the person themselves, needs to think about, discuss and then record the person’s wishes regarding their ongoing care.
By ensuring that everyone understands what the person's preferences are, it is more likely that the person will be supported as they would like to be, even if they are unable to say this in the future. This is particularly important for someone with dementia, as it can reduce anxiety, which can be a cause of challenging behaviour.
Your health, your choices