Advice on making Christmas easier for vulnerable older folk

The advice for dinner on December 25 includes things such as keeping the noise down and keeping tables free of clutter.

Minimising confusion in sufferers is at the heart of the recommendations.

The advice, which is published on page two of today’s paper and has been issued by Care UK, will be read by many people across the UK.

The number of people across the country who have dementia has been rising and rising.

This is because so many people, in Northern Ireland, and across the western world, are living so much longer than ever before.

The huge medical advance of improving longevity, which is almost a modern scientific miracle, is bringing with it the complication of increasing medical issues.

The hope of course is that the very medical advances that have improved life expectancy so radically will lead to rapid progress against dementia.

Improvements in that regard, however, have been very slow.

The advice for Christmas Day is timely, because it is also a reminder of how easy it is at this time of year to forget people who get left behind in the seasonal rush and festivities and for whom December 25 is potentially even a painful time.

The old and lonely are obvious examples of a category people who are neglected, but they are far from the only category.

Alzheimer’s and related conditions are here to stay for many decades to come. The more aware we all are of small things that can be done to ease life along for those whose lives have been so curtailed, the better.