Platform with more than 160 practical answers helps people caring for someone with dementia
Built by a Portuguese software developer who lives alongside dementia in the family, Dementia Support Guide runs in four languages and has already been consulted thousands of times since it opened in July.
Maia, Portugal, September 2026 — Dementia Support Guide, an information platform for people caring for a family member with dementia, has been consulted thousands of times since it went online in July. It brings together more than 160 everyday care situations answered in plain language and 17 printable care sheets, and can be used without signing up.
An estimated 57 million people were living with dementia worldwide in 2021, more than 60% of them in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization’s dementia fact sheet, updated on 3 July 2026. Behind most of them is a relative who learned to care with no training and often with no one to ask at three in the morning.
The site is organised around concrete questions rather than textbook chapters: what to do when someone refuses to have a bath, how to handle late-afternoon agitation known as sundowning, how to respond when a parent no longer recognises their child. Every answer ends with a block naming the sources that informed it. There are also sheets to print and fill in by hand — a medication plan, emergency contacts, and a carer’s plan B in case something happens to the carer — plus a directory of national support organisations.
“Living alongside dementia, I know what a family goes through: the way life turns around and the weight that falls on whoever does the caring. You spend a whole lifetime with someone and then, in old age, it is as if you had to learn to deal with a new person. The memory of who they always were clouds your view and makes it hard to use the strategies that actually work. I built Dementia Support Guide so that the right information reaches carers — simple, practical and there when they need it.”
— Hélder Mota, founder
There are more than 160 situations in each of the four languages, all with their sources named, 17 printable sheets and more than 200 published pages per domain, across seven areas of care. To date the project has been funded entirely by its creator, with no public, institutional or pharmaceutical industry support. Content is the sole responsibility of the founder, a developer rather than a health professional: it is not clinically validated, and the site states this openly on its “About Us” page. Review by health professionals is a stated goal of the project.
Note for UK newsrooms: the site uses “carer” throughout and is not affiliated with the NHS, Alzheimer’s Society or any UK charity; its directory points readers to national organisations rather than replacing them.
Note for US newsrooms: the US-facing version uses “caregiver” and is not affiliated with Medicare, AARP or any US organisation; its directory points readers to national organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Association and the Eldercare Locator.