Personas

 Person with dementia

1. Peter is a 75 year old with moderate a case of Alzheimer dementia living at home with his wife. He can function in normal daily life within his comfort zone decently, especially with Catherine's help, but often forgets to eat or drink for long periods of time when alone. However, Peter is defensive about his inability to be completely self sufficient, and will get annoyed if he is reminded of this inability, such as reminding him too much to do something, or being asked why he left the meal prepared for him uneaten. This causes Catherine to always worry about her husband whenever she is away.
   Peter and Catherine have been married for almost 50 years, he always calls Catherine the true love of his life. Until five years ago, Peter and Catherine used to go on hiking tours in the hills in Germany with a group of other senior people four times a year. Unfortunately, Peter is now too weak to go on these holidays.
   
   Peter studied mechanical engineering and used to be very into new technology and mathematics. As an engineer, he even worked for one of Netherland's largest tech companies. He was one of the first persons to have a computer at home and he used to spend hours and hours in his study on his computer. Three years ago, Peter started to lose interest in his computer. He stopped replying to his emails: this information has become too overwhelming for him. Nowadays, Peter's son does Peter's paper work.
   Playing the piano and the flute used to be Peter's greatest passion. Unfortunately, he has started to become deaf, disabling him to play, because he does not hear all tones anymore. Nevertheless, his music knowledge is still very good and even though his fingers do not move as accurately, some songs like Für Elise by J.S. Bach he still knows by heart.
   In Peter's free time, he likes to solve Sudoku's. Although he used to solve 7 star sudoku's, he can now hardly solve the one star sudoku's.
   
   Every Friday and on weekends, Peter used to go out with Catherine for a couple drinks in the pub. Since he is not feeling in the mood to go to the pub anymore, Catherine provides these aperitifs at home.
   Peter has four children and six grandchildren, who he loves very much. Even though he might not have a good day when he sees his grandchildren, he always does is very best to be as witty and funny as ever. Some of the grandchildren have had boyfriends and girlfriends, although he always forgets whenever he spoke to the "newest" boyfriends and girlfriends. Because it is confronting to him to talk about stuff he does not remember fully anymore, he tells more and more old stories to his grandchildren and his wife.
   Peter used to be a tidy person, always dressed up neatly. Since a year, he sometimes forgets to shave parts of his beard, which irritates Catherine very much.
   To help Catherine a little bit with taking care of Peter, Julie, the nurse, comes in every two days to help Peter with getting dressed, have a coffee and helping Catherine a bit in the household.

 Relative

1. Catherine is 73 and married to Peter. She goes to charity work regularly and has an active life in the evenings and weekends. She helps Peter when she is at home, but worries when she leaves Peter alone for longer periods of time. Dragging Peter out of bed every morning and asking Peter to eat and drink enough is both mentally and physically tiring for her. Even though Catherine is still vital, she started to develop coxarthrosis in her hip, making it harder to stand up every time Peter needs something.
   Catherine bakes her own bread and cakes, she never goes to a bakery. Her true joy is going to the pub and dancing with her entire family. Julie's visits are a true light in the day for Catherine. While Julie is there, Catherine sometimes goes to the beautician to treat herself.
   Catherine would love to go on hiking tours with other people in Germany and stay in the hotel she and Peter used to visit every year. But unfortunately, she cannot leave Peter alone for more than a day. Even if she goes out to visit one of her children for dinner, she finds the food she prepared for Peter still in the pan at the end of the day. After such an event, Catherine always tells their son and daughters on the phone that she can hardly bear this burden any longer and arranging a care home for Peter has become a subject that is spoken about more often every day.
   2. Dylan is 49 and is Peter's and Catherine's son. He lives 70 km away from his parents, but tries to visit every other week. Besides going to the pub with Catherine, he takes care of the paper work for his father.

 Formal caregiver

1. Julie is a 42 year old caregiver. She has been visiting Peter and Catherine for almost two years now. She always feels bad that when she leaves, Catherine's worries start again, having to feed and take care of Peter on her own. Julie notices that Peter is becoming more fragile and skinnier by the day. When Julie arrives, she does not only see a fragile old man, she also finds an utterly exhausted lady. Julie notices that Catherine keeps pushing Peter to eat and drink enough, even when Julie is there, but many times Peter does not feel the urge to listen to Catherine. To help prevent Peter for losing too much weight, Julie now often offers Peter a piece of cake with his coffee.