Coping with dementia - Be ready to offer help

ANYONE who has seen how dementia can take away a person’s independence will understand the relief felt by Liam Cooney’s family when he was reunited with them after a four-night absence in the Spanish holiday resort of Alicante.

Mr Cooney, 64, disappeared in the most humdrum circumstances on a holiday night out with his family and was the subject of an intensive search.

Many families have been in a similar situation, worrying about a missing loved one whose faculties have been reduced by age or disease. Thankfully most cases end, as Mr Cooney’s did, without anything more tragic than a few days and nights of great worry.

Dementia and diseases like it are on the increase and we all may meet a Mr Cooney at some stage. Let us hope that our instincts move us to do all we can to help that individual and reunite them with their family.