Dementia and help with household tasks: a comparison of cases and non-cases

This paper is based on data, relating to people aged 75+ living in the community, from the city of Liverpool and from a rural area of North Wales. It compares those suffering from cognitive brain disorders with those identified as being cognitively unimpaired. Levels of need, and sources of help with a range of domestic and home maintenance tasks are identified. Results show that most help for those who are cognitively impaired comes from relatives living in the same household, while help for those who are physically impaired comes primarily from spouses or relatives living in different households. Cases do not demonstrate a higher level of use of formal services than non-cases. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.