My dad has Alzheimer’s, which is not unusual for an 84-year-old man. He lives with my mum, who is also in her 80s, in a two-bedroom apartment in Canberra. My mum has multiple sclerosis, which makes looking after a fit, otherwise healthy man with Alzheimer’s very challenging.

Dad cannot think in any structured way. He can’t really understand what’s going on around him and he can’t follow verbal instructions. He’s too big and strong to wrestle in and out of clothes, the way you would with a small child, but he has to be wrestled in and out of clothes fairly often because he also doesn’t really understand when he needs to go to the toilet.

He likes to go out for a walk every morning and many afternoons, but he can’t go by himself because he has no idea where he is and how to get home. My mum can’t go with him due to her multiple sclerosis, which also means she gets very tired and needs a lot of rest which, when you live with a six-foot-tall toddler who really wants to go outside, is impossible.

The situation is clearly not sustainable. While they get support every morning – someone comes to feed, shower and dress Dad – for the rest of the day, most days, Mum looks after him, which is wearing her out. My........

© The Guardian