A great tip to share with people who are unsure of how to be with a person with dementia, is that all they need to do is be genuine and congruent, essentially be themselves. Bringing the focus back to the person, and away from the disease being at the forefront, will also help breakdown existing barriers. Normalising the experience can be helpful – we often think we need to approach a person with dementia in a certain way – but ultimately we just need to be ourselves, responding to our interaction with them, in the moments we share with them, as we would anyone else. To see them as the person they are and not let the disease shadow that sight.