Tips for supporting carers

• Discrimination and dementia – enough is enough by Dementia Australia

  Dementia Action Week Report 2021
  For all the increased recognition of human rights over the past decades and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities coming into force, people living with dementia still report experiencing discrimination and not feeling fully included within society. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affirms that all persons with all types of disabilities (including people living with dementia) must enjoy the same rights as everyone else, including rights to autonomy in decision-making, independent living, community inclusion, and liberty. The challenge, however, is to shift attitudes, and design and deliver services, businesses and infrastructure that are flexible, innovative, accessible, appropriate and culturally safe to ensure people with dementia, their families and carers are well supported and included within the Australian community.
• Alone No More The Myth of Loneliness by Brenda Shoshanna

  Publication Date: 2019

  Loneliness is fast becoming an epidemic in our new, isolating tech age. Despite endless social media activity, many feel alone. ALONE NO MORE uncovers the true source of loneliness, and offers a unique and simple path to feeling truly connected, wanted and of real value, no matter where you are.
• Life is Short, Wear Your Party Pants by by Loretta LaRoche

  Publication Date: 2004

  This book gives you the tools you need to not only reduce feelings of tension, but also to bring joy, passion, and gusto into your life. Techniques are a brilliant blend of old-world common sense and the most contemporary research in brain chemistry, psychology, and mind-body studies. See dozens of proven techniques for recognizing the ten simple truths that will lead you to an intense, happy, successful life: resilience, living in the moment, optimism, acceptance, humour, creativity, moderation, responsibility, meaning, and connection. As Loretta says: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift—that's why they call it the present."

• Self-care for carers by Dementia Australia

  This page discusses the importance of taking a break from caring, how to organise it and who can help. Caring for someone with dementia can be physically and emotionally tiring and stressful. Families and carers can easily become isolated from social contacts, particularly if they are unable to leave the person they are caring for. Regular breaks mean that you can have a rest, go out, attend to business or go on a holiday.

• The Dementia Guide by Dementia Australia

  Publication Date: 2024; edited 2025

  For people living with dementia, their families and carers. The Dementia Guide is an important resource for any person impacted by any form of dementia, of any age. This resource contains information about the impact dementia may have on a person, the treatment, support and services they may need. It is available to read online, download as a pdf, listen to an audio version or request a print copy.
• Dementia - Support for Family and Friends, Second Edition by Dave Pulsford; Rachel Thompson

  Publication Date: 2019

  The book explores each stage of the journey people with dementia face and explains how it affects the person, as well as those around them both at home and in residential settings. It shows how best to offer support and where to get professional and informal assistance. Focussing on the progressive nature of dementia and the issues that can arise as a result, it gives practical advice that can help to ensure the best possible quality of life both for the person with dementia and the people around them.

• 

  Self care for carers

  It’s okay to spend time taking care of yourself. Not only because you’ll be better able to care for your loved one, but just because you’re a person who deserves care.

• Taking care of a carer

  Information on how to support someone who cares for a person with dementia.
• Keeping Love Alive As Memories Fade by Gary Chapman

  With guidance from professionals and stories of committed caregivers, you'll learn how others have braved the road ahead, and how you can too. Using the five love languages and other creative ideas, you can discover, like many others, the resilient power of love.

• 

  National Dementia Helpline

  Free and confidential, the National Dementia Helpline provides expert information, advice and support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. No issue too big, no question too small.
• 

  Support for families and carers

  Family members and friends often find themselves in the role of a carer when a loved one is living with dementia. While caring for your loved one can be rewarding, it can also have its tougher days. As you care for someone with dementia, you may not be taking as much care of your own emotional, mental or physical wellbeing. Whether you’re the husband, wife, partner, daughter, son, brother, sister or friend of the person, your relationship will change. Dementia Australia offers support for families and carers so you don’t feel alone.

• It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine

  Publication Date: 2017

  The author poses a new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, "happy" life, replacing it with a middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it.
  Also available as audioBook
• Boundaries Where You End and I Begin by Anne Katherine

  Publication Date: 2010

  The coronavirus pandemic has brought new and challenging interpersonal situations into our lives. Have you recently walked away from a conversation feeling uncomfortable or violated? Are you looking for ways to set limits with your spouse, kids, parents, or boss? This essential guide to setting and respecting boundaries is for anyone wanting to better understand themselves and others. Just as a cut in our skin causes pain and injury, a breach of any of our physical, emotional, or sexual boundaries can be very harmful to our bodies and minds. We may need help to heal from past boundary violations, respect the boundaries of those around us, and learn how to set healthy limits for the future, particularly if we have a history of trauma, unhealthy relationships, addiction, or adverse childhood experiences.

• Carer Gateway

  Carers can get a wide range of help – from counselling and peer support groups, to respite care, home help and equipment.

• 

  Health direct - How to start exercising

  Everyone should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. Moderate-intensity physical activity is an activity that is energetic and raises your heart rate, but doesn't make you too breathless, such as fast walking.
  Build up slowly...

  more... less...

  Some physical activity is better than none, and more is better than a little. But you don’t have to exercise to the point of being in pain to get a health benefit.
  
  If you don’t do any physical activity at all, start by just doing some. You can build up gradually.
  
  It can be a good idea to set short-term and long-term goals. Make your goals specific, measurable and achievable. Rather than a vague goal like 'I will get fit', try 'I will walk every day for 10 minutes after meals' or 'I will get on and off the bus/train 2 stops away from my usual stop'.

• Workout to Go A Sample Exercise Routine from the National Institute on Aging

  Publication Date: 2016

  The 13 exercises in this sample workout can help. In this booklet, you'll find easy-to-follow strength, balance, and flexibility exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere.
• Taking Care of Yourself Strategies for Eating Well, Staying Fit, and Living in Balance by Andrew Weil

  ISBN: 9781615877508

  How do you create a “whole-person” fitness program that you will actually look forward to doing each day? Taking Care of Yourself, this pioneering Harvard-trained physician invites listeners to participate in his first personal, one-on-one audio course. With Dr. Weil at their side, listeners learn his most current and proven cornerstones for creating optimum health – naturally. How do you shop for foods and prepare them for maximum nutrition and pleasure? What are the most effective techniques for tapping the power of your mind to combat stress, lower your blood pressure, improve your digestion, and alleviate many other common disorders? Which vitamins and supplements

• Burnout The Secret to Solving the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski

  Publication Date: 2019

  With insights from the latest science, prescriptive advice, and helpful worksheets and exercises, Burnout reveals:
  * what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle - and return your body to a state of relaxation.
  * how to manage the 'monitor' in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration.
  * why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are key to recovering from and preventing burnout.
• Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

  Publication Date: 2017

  Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. "I want Dave," she cried. Her friend replied, "Option A is not available," and then promised to help her make the most of Option B.