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• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Men caring for partners >> Interview 08 >> Describes why he felt he was the best person to care for the wife he'd loved all his life.

He felt he had to fight to get the care she needed when she needed it. Indignant that medication was refused on grounds of cost but did persuade GP to give Aricept though he admits it didn't do her any good. Life is very lonely since she died.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Women caring for partners >> Interview 23 >> Felt that the role of carer crept up on her without her making any conscious decision to do it.

Has been able to cope with caring for him at home. He attends a day centre and he has regular respite care. Doesn't feel ready to consider full time residential care for him but has felt it necessary to look out for homes which might be suitable.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Men caring for partners >> Interview 07 >> Could not dream of doing anything other than care for his wife just as she would have cared for him.

Gradual onset mistaken for depression. Diagnosis given jointly to husband and wife. Slow progression. Problem with restlessness and wandering. Very involved with the local Alzheimers disease society. He tries to involve her in decisions where possible. Initially prescribed antidepressants later given trial of Reminyl. Later benifited from sedatives and sleeping tablets.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Caring for parents >> Interview 15 >> Had to accept a reversal of roles with her mother who could no longer make decisions.

Her mother had been an independent widowed woman. They had hoped when they were able to move her nearby that this arrangement would be adequate for several years but before long she had to go into residential care.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Men caring for partners >> Interview 50 >> Describes settling his wife into a residential home.

Developed symptoms in her sixties and guessed herself what it was. Dementia progressed but Alzheimers was never actually confirmed. Separation difficulties with day care but easy transfer to residential care. Was treated with tegretol because she developed epilepsy.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Caring for parents >> Interview 15 >> Describes the difficulty of making decisions on behalf of someone with dementia.

Her mother had been an independent widowed woman. They had hoped when they were able to move her nearby that this arrangement would be adequate for several years but before long she had to go into residential care.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Caring for parents >> Interview 09 >> Relatives should not have to make difficult end of life decisions. Disputes hospital ethos of saving life at any cost.

Her mother, a strong minded widow, bitterly resisted surrendering her freedom and finally had to be sectioned before being transferred to residential care. She died recently twenty years after the first signs of her dementia, in a nursing home.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Caring with young children >> Interview 21 >> Explains how her religious belief is a comfort and helps her to decide what to do.

Her husband developed Picks' disease when he was 57. The patchy nature of his dementia made it difficult to convince people that his problems were real. Delay in getting the diagnosis meant they experienced extreme difficulties in accessing his health insurance.

• Nerves & brain >> Carers of people with dementia >> Caring for parents >> Interview 15 >> Carer felt unable to assert herself but suspected the motives of the professionals deciding whether her mother should be given medication.

Her mother had been an independent widowed woman. They had hoped when they were able to move her nearby that this arrangement would be adequate for several years but before long she had to go into residential care.