For the nurses, doctors, chaplains, and allied health professionals who dedicate their careers to supporting people living with dementia, the rewards are genuine. So too are the challenges. This article explores psychological growth in senior health professionals working in dementia care — and what their experiences can tell us about meaning and purpose, adaptability, and what it means to truly give to another person.

When dementia takes away speech, it can feel like connection is slipping too. But our research The Dance of Communication reveals that even without words, awareness and belonging remain.

Across Australia, grandparents are stepping up. With childcare costs at record highs and working parents stretched thin, many grandparents have moved well beyond the occasional Saturday babysit. Some are providing full-time or near-full-time care — managing school runs, meals, illnesses, school holidays, and everything in between (Baxter, 2022). This article explores the difference between enriching involvement and over-functioning — and what the research says about protecting your health and your relationships while staying connected.

There is a particular phrase that appears again and again in the accounts of family members who have moved a family member with dementia into a care home. Not anger, not relief — though both of those are present. The phrase is simpler, and harder: I feel like I've failed. For many families, this is where the story appears to end. But a growing body of research indicates it is where something else begins.

There is a moment many family carers describe in almost identical terms; a day that arrives with paperwork, practical necessity, and an ache that defies explanation. The day they hand over the care of someone they love to an unfamiliar system of aged care. For such families, the emotional meaning is rarely spoken about. Yet research suggests that within such painful experiences, something else is also possible — an unexpected capacity for growth.

For many families, supporting a member living with dementia is marked by confusion, grief, and relational loss — as friends stop visiting and some family members withdraw in distress from the person at the centre of it all. Yet research indicates that this same experience, however unwelcome, can also become a turning point for unexpected growth, deeper intimacy, and new meaning in life.

Older people in the LGBTQIA+ community who care for partners, friends, or chosen family face compounded challenges beyond standard caregiver stress — including discrimination in care settings, internalised stigma, and limited legal recognition of their caregiving relationships. Research identifies physical activity, community connection, personal mastery, and affirming social support as key protective factors for their psychological wellbeing.

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are not the same thing. Dementia is an umbrella term for a set of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, language, and behaviour, which can be caused by over 100 different conditions. Alzheimer's disease is the most common of these conditions, accounting for 60–80% of dementia cases. Understanding the difference matters because the type of dementia affects how symptoms present, progress, and are best supported.

A serious health diagnosis can shatter the life you knew. But decades of research in positive psychology show that something unexpected — growth — can emerge alongside the distress. This article explores what the research says about psychological growth after illness, and what it might mean for you or someone you love.