Help for carers who care for someone with dementia in the UK

Vital help on offer for carers

11:25am Thursday 4th August 2011

 

Did your readers know that there are currently 750,000 people with Alzheimer’s or dementia in the UK?

This number is set to rise to over a million people with dementia within ten years.

Caring for a loved one with dementia can be a lonely, stressful experience. The feeling of disconnection is hardest to bear.

There may be precious moments of clarity, when memories return and the years roll away, but for the most part carers have to watch their loved ones drifting slowly away.

So many carers are in desperate need of respite, but opportunities to be relieved of the caring role for even a short time are few and far between. Over a third of carers have never been able to take a break since they started caring.

I work at a place called Vitalise Netley Waterside House near Southampton, an accessible respite break centre for disabled people and carers run by national charity Vitalise. Each year hundreds of people enjoy desperately-needed breaks with us.

We regularly have special weeks for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their partners. Relieved of all their care worries, carers can regain their strength and restore a loving connection with their spouses. They tell us that their breaks with us often make the difference between coping and despair.

If you would like to know more, please call 0845 345 1970 or email bookings@vitalise.org.uk.

Laura Sercombe, Vitalise www.vitalise.org.uk

http://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/yoursay/letters/9177928.Vital_help_on_offer__for_carers/