Supporting children

Jill Walton, who was Support Group Coordinator for Rare Dementia Support, discusses the effect on and the support available for children with a parent affected by familial Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information about supporting young people who have a parent with familial Alzheimer’s disease, see the FAD support group website.

This issue doesn’t just affect people with inherited forms of dementia in the family, other forms of dementia can develop under the age of 65, when people are more likely to be living with children at home; and some children whose grandparents have dementia may ask questions and want to know more about it.

Alzheimer’s Research UK has a great new website for kids which explains dementia, it has pages aimed at different ages, and includes games to learn about the brain.

The Alzheimer’s Society also has information about how to explain dementia to children, and advice for how to deal with this situation.