The Support We Crave

A year before founding Dementia Life, my mother was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s. The support available for families like ours was, frankly, disappointing. This fuelled my determination to create Dementia Life — a community that ensures families receive the support they truly deserve.

Anyone who has been through the process of a family member being diagnosed with any form of dementia knows how hard it is. Dementia is not just forgetting things; it’s not just being confused or being stuck in “a different time.” Dementia is scary.

I want you to think about this: over the course of several years, you are increasingly unable to find words to finish sentences. Or you can’t follow conversations, you get lost in what people are saying and feel unable to contribute. Then you can’t do things you’ve always been able to, whether that’s cook your favourite meal or even make a cup of tea.

Do you feel that anxiety rising? You probably know what’s wrong, but you don’t want to admit it. Dementia can be a slow decline, but it’s a slow, rocky and painful decline. For people like me, whose mother is disappearing slowly in front of them, it can be incredibly tough.

Why the Current Support System Fails Families

If you’re experiencing no support after a dementia diagnosis in the UK, you’re not alone. The lack of dementia support for families is not a personal failing — it’s a systemic one. You leave the hospital with a handful of leaflets, and then what? The gap between diagnosis and meaningful support is enormous.

My coping mechanism for this was research. I researched everything I possibly could about dementia. But it became clear that only so much can be learned about the medical and clinical aspects. What I was craving was information borne from experience. I wanted to talk to other people who have been through the same thing. That feeling of being abandoned after a dementia diagnosis is what drove me to create Dementia Life.

What Dementia Life Does Differently

We are bringing together the families of people living with dementia to share their experiences. We want to give people the opportunity to ask questions and get advice or guidance from others in the same situation. Dementia Life provides  dementia peer support in the UK that is experience-led, not textbook-led.

We know how hard it is to know what to do or even what to expect in the future. We aim to grow a strong, local community that is there for you. Regardless of your relationship to a person living with dementia, you will be warmly welcomed into the Dementia Life family.