Our Dementia Torches Library brings together essential insights and practical direction for families navigating uncertainty. Each Torch shines a light on the questions, decisions, and fears families face, helping you understand what’s happening. These are your first steps toward navigating dementia with confidence.
When “Wandering” Is Really About Autonomy — Not Risk
We call it wandering. As if movement is a symptom. As if walking has become a behavioural problem that needs correcting. But the uncomfortable truth is this: Movement often becomes “wandering” when it stops being convenient for everyone else.
Why Red Plates and Cups Can Increase Eating and Drinking in Dementia
In dementia, changes in eating and drinking are often misunderstood as appetite loss, refusal, or behavioural change. In reality, the difficulty frequently begins much earlier
When the Carer Stays Behind: The Grief Nobody Prepares You For
There is a moment in dementia care that rarely gets spoken about. It doesn’t happen at diagnosis. It doesn’t happen at death. It happens in between — when a loved one is moved into a care home, and the person who has been caring for them goes home alone.
“Nothing has changed in our house… so why does it suddenly feel unsafe?”
The home hasn’t changed. And yet, for someone living with dementia, the way the brain interprets that space has. What once felt familiar can slowly begin to feel confusing, unpredictable, or even threatening.
When Evening Feels Like a Threat: Understanding Sundowning in Dementia
Sundowning can be a distressing experience that families face in dementia care, not because it lasts all day, but because it arrives with such force at a time when everyone is already running on empty. For a person living with dementia, evening can feel like the moment everything becomes unstable.
When Someone Won’t Use the Toilet: Dementia, Lost Cues, and the Missing “Steps”
A person may shift constantly in their chair, stand up repeatedly, pace around the room, or look as if they are searching for something — yet when you guide them toward the bathroom, they either refuse, look blank, or wander away again as if they don’t know what they’re looking for.
Scientific research suggests that dancing and dance-based activities have positive effects on brain health and may be associated with a lower risk of dementia and improved cognitive function.
Should You Tell Someone They Have Dementia? (And What If They Don’t Believe It?)
A difficult moment for families is not the diagnosis itself, but what comes after it. The question usually arrives quietly at first, then with panic: “When do I tell them?” or “How do I tell them?” and sometimes even, “Do I tell them at all?”
Why taking control escalates behaviour — even when your intention is to help
Families describe the point where they stepped in to “stop something” and unknowingly made the situation worse. The intention is almost always protective. A partner wants to prevent distress, danger, or escalation. Yet instead of calming the situation, their action triggers anger, resistance, or even aggression.
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD): “They’re not the same person anymore…”
“He’s become cold or rude.” “It’s like the filter is gone.” “She says things she never would have said.” “They don’t seem to care how it affects us.” “They’ve lost motivation and interest in everyone.” “They’re impulsive… inappropriate.” “They’ve changed with food and seem obsessed with sweets.”
When Behaviour Becomes a Language — and We Keep Responding Like It’s Noise
In dementia care, we often say that behaviour is communication. It sounds compassionate. It sounds informed. But it is incomplete — and in that incompleteness, harm quietly persists. Behaviour is not merely communication. It is a language. And like any language, when it is misunderstood, dismissed, or punished, the consequences are profound.
We understand behaviour as a language that must be learned, interpreted, and responded to with fluency if care is to be truly person-led and holistic in practice.
When numbers still work but words don’t: what the dementia brain is actually doing
If the brain is “failing,” how can calculations still be correct while language is not? This is where understanding the Launex Dementia Brain Map™ changes everything.
Dementia Care & Understanding: A Family & LDCS Pathway
These Torches raise the important questions. For deeper understanding and support through the dementia journey, explore the full course and our specialised training pathways.
