New Roles

In all families, roles have been defined between spouses and between children and parents. As a spouse, you have to deal with a difficult situation because the person you share everyday life with has developed a disease that causes the roles between you to change.

As the person with dementia increasingly loses skills, the relatives will take on a carer role. For women, it may be taking over responsibility for finances or maintenance tasks, for example. For men, it may be taking over the daily housekeeping and cooking. Children of people with dementia who live alone will typically provide help with financial and practical measures in everyday life.  Your new role may be very demanding.