The Six Dementia
Caregiving Stages
Understanding your journey as a family caregiver — not the disease process, but your emotional experience.
Find Your Caregiving Stage →This journey belongs to you.
When your caree receives a dementia diagnosis, the focus often shifts entirely to the disease. But the Six Dementia Caregiving Stages center something different: your experience as a family caregiver. These stages are a fluid, flexible guide — not a rigid checklist — to help you understand where you are, what you're feeling, and how to cope at every point along the way.
Each stage introduces a keyword — a coping strategy you carry forward. As you move through the stages, those keywords accumulate, giving you a growing toolkit for the hardest moments.
The Six Stages
To prepare and to take care of yourself.
- Forcing conversations
- Making assumptions
- Backing down when you hit an obstacle
- Underestimating the warning signs
- Start, then give time
- Information now is power later
- Work within your obstacles, but don't give up
- The more clearly you see now, the better you handle the future
To experiment, to get your feet wet and see what works. To create a habit of enjoying your life.
- Miscommunications with health care professionals
- Overlooking your caree's suggestions
- Family members say they'll help but then don't
- Ask for clarification
- Value your caree's insights
- Rather than waiting for offers of help, be specific in requests
- Let go of resentments of family who won't/can't/don't help
To develop a routine, create a schedule for yourself and your caree.
- Believing only you can provide the care needed
- Forgetting how helpful it can be to share about your day
- Moving from crisis to crisis without a break
- Deciding you can't burden others
- Giving up too much of yourself
- You are the best caregiver, but not the only one
- Discuss your concerns, your stresses, your burdens
- Give yourself a Recovery Plan
- It's an opportunity for others to be involved
- Keep what you can; your quality of life matters, too
To gain a better understanding of yourself and your caree.
- You judge how you feel about your day and your experiences
- You decide it's best to put your future on hold
- Your emotions reflect your challenges — feel so you can heal
- Use your time now to plan and prepare for your future
To walk with your caree during his or her last months and weeks.
- You continue to 'do' when being present is enough
- You feel guilty for not wanting to take a break
- You feel guilty because your caree dies during your break
- You struggle to mesh your old life with a new life
- Moving on seems to be taking too long
- Being with your caree is your best act of doing
- Time with your caree is limited; you decide when a break is needed
- Your caree may need solitude to transition
- Find support that reflects your right-now life
- What changes are needed to begin the next chapter?
To implement and share your lessons learned from your role as family caregiver.
- Underestimating the importance of your journey
- Review your journals and diaries and ask: How am I different today?
Your Ongoing Questions
These four questions remain with you at every stage of your dementia caregiving journey.
You Will Be Okay When…
Interactive Tools for Your Journey
These free tools are built around real caregiving needs. Use them at any point in your dementia caregiving journey — whether you're just beginning or navigating the end of the road.
Locate yourself within the Six Caregiving Stages™ so you understand what's happening — and what's coming. Knowing your stage changes everything.
When a diagnosis lands, everything shifts. This tool helps you process what's happened and identify your next right steps with clarity.
A crisis doesn't wait for you to be ready. Build a plan before you need it — so you're never scrambling in the dark.
Whether you're recovering from a health crisis, a loss, or the long exhaustion of caregiving, this tool builds a day-by-day path back toward yourself.
Healing happens in small, daily moments. Create a personalized plan for the gentle, consistent care that helps you stay whole through the hard days.
Fifteen tools, each built around a real caregiving need. Filter by what matters most to you right now — or use the guided finder to discover where to start.
Get Support for Your Dementia Caregiving Journey
Our Dementia Care Family Caregiver Support Program connects you with a Certified Caregiving Consultant™ who understands your stage and can help you build a care plan tailored to your caree's needs — and your own.
Explore the Dementia Care Support Program