Armstrong, Madeline

AIM: To find out the reasons why carers might decide that they could not continue caring for a relative with dementia at home. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews with carers of relatives who have dementia, before placing their relatives into residential care and then again four months after that placement. N=4. RESULTS: Wandering, aggression, incontinence and physical dependency in people who have dementia are factors that might lead carers to consider placing their relatives into residential care; stress associated with Christmas can be another influencing factor.

Young people who develop dementia and their carers have all the distressing symptoms of older people who have this condition but with the added problems of having a career, financial commitments and often a young family. Explores the condition and the help that is available.