Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Dementia

Families struggling with dementia in an elder relative may overlook the distress caused to a young child, but early years practitioners can show them how to approach it, says Kath Tayler.

While a child's central relationship will be with their parents, siblings or other main carers, children may also have important relationships with a grandparent, other older relative or family friend. Such a relationship can provide consistency and security to a young child. But what happens if this person develops dementia?

There are currently some 700,000 people in the UK with dementia. About 15,000 of these are under 65 years old, but the chances of developing dementia increase significantly with age.

Spending time with or caring for someone with dementia can be a distressing and frustrating experience for family members and one that is all the more difficult for a young child to understand.

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