Actress Phyllida Law describes the burden of caring for a parent with dementia

Ms Law, the mother of Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, looked after her own mother Meg, who lived with the family for 17 years as the degenerative illness progressed. She said: “The night time was particularly difficult: at dusk my mother would often think she was in the wrong house, or she would call for breakfast in the middle of the night, not knowing what time it was.