Help / When you need a person, not a list
When memory starts to slip
If someone is getting more forgetful or confused, this is the page — and like coming home from hospital, AskFam does not answer it with a list of names. Memory changes need someone who can actually assess what is going on, not a cleaner and a hope.
That is not a brush-off. It is because the wrong help, arranged too fast, can make a frightening situation worse — and the right first step is usually simpler and closer than families expect.
The first call is the GP
Confusion has many causes, and a good number are treatable — an infection, medication, dehydration, a thyroid problem. A GP is the place to start, because a diagnosis, or ruling one out, changes everything that follows.
Book a longer appointment and, if you can, go along. What you have noticed at home is exactly what the doctor needs to hear.
Dementia Australia, for the rest
Dementia Australia runs a free national helpline on 1800 100 500 — for information, for what to do next, and for the questions you would rather not ask in front of the person. You do not need a diagnosis to call.
And My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 arranges the practical support at home, once you know what you are dealing with.
The hard part: getting them to accept it
This is the bit nobody warns you about. Someone frightened of losing their independence will often refuse the very help that would protect it, and pushing harder usually backfires.
What tends to work is small, and framed as being for you rather than about them — "it would put my mind at ease", starting with one low-stakes thing, letting them keep the decision. The GP and Dementia Australia can both help you find the words. You do not have to win the argument today.