Emotional cost of dementia

Abstract

Dementia is the key factor in triggering entry to long-term care as families experience the physical and psychological effects of the increasing burden of care. It becomes increasingly difficult for families to find meaning in continuing to care for people who cannot speak and who may no longer recognise them. There is evidence of the growing emotional costs for families associated with unresolved grief, isolation and loss, before and after long-term care placements, and guilt caused by decisions to place relatives in care.