Examples

Telling about the disease may be a challenge. Some of the ways people have done this are listed below.

• One man chose to write a letter to family and friends in which he and his wife briefly told about the time preceding the diagnosis. In the letter they also expressed how they wanted their family and friends to be together with them in the future. They enclosed a few brochures about Alzheimer’s Disease in the letter so the recipients could read about the disease.
• One couple told their family and friends the first time they met after the diagnosis was made. That was good, because they both  really needed to talk about the disease.
• One couple asked their children to call their friends and tell them. That way they got feedback on their friends' reactions without making themselves vulnerable to negative reactions. The range of reactions can be both surprising and enlightening.
• One wife asked her husband to tell their loved ones. She did not think she could cope with their reactions. That meant that when she met them, then she knew they knew about the diagnosis and that they did not need to talk about it so much. It gave her peace of mind that she could be in their company without pressure to talk about dementia and she knew that they would support her if needed.

It is up to you how you want to do it, and maybe you have your own unique way of doing it. The important thing is for it to be at a point in time and in a manner that suits you.

Finally, don’t wait too long to tell others about the disease. Many of your friends and family will probably have noticed how your relative has changed. So they may not be as surprised or shocked as you think