5. Later stage dementia - stage 3

In this third and final stage, the person has severe impairment and needs total, 24 hour care. The person may:

·         Lose their ability to understand or use speech

·         Need help with eating, washing, bathing, toileting and dressing (these are sometimes called the Activities of Daily Living)

·         Be disturbed at night

·         Be restless

·         Show little or no recognition of family and friends

·         Have difficulty walking, eventually perhaps becoming confined to a chair 

·         Have permanent immobility, and in the final weeks or months the person will be bedridden.  

·         Be incontinent

It’s important to remember that some abilities remain throughout all stages.  The person still keeps their sense of touch and hearing, smell and their ability to respond to emotion.

A person in the later stages of dementia may have symptoms that suggest that they are close to death, but actually live with these symptoms for many months.