Living with dementia
A calm, familiar voice on the other end of the line.
When someone you love is living with the early stages of dementia, ordinary contact can feel harder to keep up. A gentle, regular phone call gives them a steady point in the week, and gives you a little more peace of mind between your own visits and calls.
What this feels like
The same person, on a different footing.
A diagnosis changes the shape of things. Conversations can wander or repeat. A name slips, a story comes round again, and the person you have known your whole life is still themselves, just navigating more than they used to. Keeping them connected and at ease matters more than ever, and it can be tiring to carry on your own.
What helps is not cleverness. It is patience. A caller who is never in a hurry, who does not correct or quiz, who follows the feeling rather than the facts, and who is happy to hear a favourite story a second or third time. That kind of unhurried company is hard to provide every single day when you have a life of your own to run.
How we design these calls.
Unhurried, and led by them
The call goes at the person's pace. It is comfortable with pauses, gives time to answer, and follows what the person wants to talk about rather than pushing an agenda.
Warmth, not correction
If a memory is muddled or a story repeats, the call responds to the feeling behind it. It does not argue, test memory, or point out mistakes. Reassurance comes first.
Gentle, familiar ground
Calls draw on the things a person loves talking about, their work, family, music and old haunts, inviting easy reminiscence and keeping the conversation on warm, familiar ground.
Where this comes from
Informed by good practice in dementia-friendly communication.
The way these conversations are designed draws on widely recognised guidance for talking with people living with dementia: listen first and let the person set the pace, respond to the emotion rather than correcting the detail, keep sentences simple and unhurried, use names and concrete words, and invite reminiscence gently without ever turning it into a test.
To be clear about what that means. We are informed by this guidance, we do not claim any organisation’s endorsement, and Calling Round is not a medical or dementia-care service. It is companionship, made thoughtfully. It does not assess, diagnose or treat, and it is not a substitute for medical care or for the people and services already supporting your family.
What a call sounds like.
A call stays simple and warm. When a story comes round again or a detail slips, the caller follows the feeling and keeps things easy, the way a patient friend would.
Ray
Hello Bill, it's Ray. Lovely to catch you. How's your morning been?
Bill
Not bad. I was just telling you about the orchard, the one my father kept.
Ray
I do love hearing about that orchard. What was growing in it this time of year?
Bill
Apples, mostly. Good ones. We'd be out there for hours.
Ray
Sounds like happy days. Hours in the orchard with your dad. That's a good thing to think about.
Bill
It is. Thanks for listening, Ray. You're a good lad.
Calling Round is company, not care.
A regular call is gentle company, not dementia care and not a substitute for medical advice. For diagnosis, day-to-day support, and the questions that come with a diagnosis, these Australian services are free and there to help families.
National Dementia Helpline
Free support and information, 24 hours a day, from Dementia Australia.
1800 100 500
Lifeline
24-hour crisis support, for the person or for a carer who is struggling.
13 11 14
Emergency
If someone is in immediate danger, call triple zero.
000
Common questions.
Is Calling Round suitable for someone with dementia?
It is best suited to the earlier stages, where a person still enjoys a chat and can follow a conversation across calls. For moderate to advanced dementia, where conversation does not hold reliably from one call to the next, it is usually not the right fit. You know the person best, so use your judgement, and you can stop the calls at any time.
Will the calls confuse or upset them?
The calls are designed to avoid that. They never test memory or correct mistakes, they keep things calm and simple, and they follow the person's lead. If a call ever causes distress, you can pause or stop it whenever you need to.
Does Calling Round give medical advice or report on their health?
No. This is a companion call, not a medical service. It does not assess, diagnose or treat anything, and it is not a substitute for a doctor or for the supports already in place.
Do they need to manage any technology?
No. The call comes to an ordinary phone. There is no app, no internet, and nothing to set up at their end. They answer when it rings, the same as any other call.
A steady, gentle call in the week.
You can set up calls for someone you care about in a couple of minutes. Choose the days, the time, and whether Ray or Rose makes the call, and you can change or stop them whenever you like.
More ways a regular call can help