Dementia | mate wareware · New Zealand
Dementia support in New Zealand
Dementia can bring health, money, care and legal questions into the same week. This guide puts them in a calmer order so you can see what may matter now and what can wait.
Use it for yourself or with someone you trust. No account is required, and you do not enter diagnosis details here.
Start where you are
What feels closest to your situation?
I’m worried about memory
Start with assessment and support. Memory changes can have causes other than dementia.
Go to this sectionI’m living with dementia
See ways to stay supported at home, manage extra costs and plan ahead.
Go to this sectionI’m supporting someone
Find respite, carer support and a practical order for the next decisions.
Go to this sectionGetting answers
Start with people, not paperwork
You do not need to wait until every question is answered before asking for practical help.
Talk to a GP or health professional
If memory, thinking, language or decision-making changes are affecting everyday life, a health professional can assess what may be causing them and arrange further help if needed.
Connect with local dementia support
Dementia organisations can help with information, education, local services and support for both the person living with dementia and their whānau or care partner.
Support at home
A needs assessment can open the door to practical help
You can self-refer or ask a healthcare provider to refer you. A support person can be with you during the assessment.
- 1
Explain what is hard now
Talk about the parts of daily life that are becoming difficult or unsafe, not just the diagnosis.
- 2
Discuss practical supports
Depending on assessed need, support may include personal care, household help, meals, respite or other community services.
- 3
Ask for another assessment when things change
Dementia needs can change over time. A support plan does not have to stay fixed if circumstances change.
Money and practical support
Support may come from more than one place
These programmes solve different problems. It can be worth checking several rather than assuming one payment rules out another.
Disability Allowance
May help with regular ongoing costs caused by a health condition or disability. You do not have to already receive a main benefit.
Next: Ask Work and Income what health confirmation and cost evidence they need for the expenses you want considered.
Work and IncomeSupported Living Payment
May be relevant when a health condition severely restricts a person’s ability to work, or for some people providing full-time care.
Next: Check the correct pathway. Carer rules are different when the person you support is your partner.
Work and IncomeCarer Support Subsidy
Can help eligible full-time unpaid carers take a break or arrange relief care, including carers supporting someone with dementia.
Next: Ask about a needs assessment because access to Carer Support is connected to assessed support needs.
Health New ZealandHelp with residential care costs
If living at home is no longer safe or workable, publicly funded residential care starts with a needs assessment. Financial help is assessed separately.
Next: Ask about Residential Care Subsidy or other financial help only after the care need and level have been assessed.
Work and IncomeCaring for a partner? Work and Income has separate guidance for financial help when caring for someone who is ill or disabled. Check the carer rules.
Planning ahead
Make future decisions easier while there is time
Enduring powers of attorney
An enduring power of attorney lets trusted people make decisions if the person later cannot. Property and personal care or welfare are separate. Legal advice is required to create one, so earlier planning can matter.
If residential care becomes necessary
Moving into care is not the first or only option. If it becomes necessary, a needs assessment decides the level of care, while funding support is considered separately.
Supporting someone
You can ask for help before caring reaches crisis point
Caring can gradually become a full-time job without anyone naming it that way. You can ask about respite, Carer Support and a fresh needs assessment when the current arrangement is no longer enough.
Talk to someone who understands dementia
Alzheimers NZ can connect people living with dementia and their whānau with information and support.
0800 004 001If things change suddenly
If confusion appears suddenly, changes quickly, or someone may be unsafe, treat it as a health issue rather than assuming it is dementia. Call 111 for an emergency. For health advice, Healthline is 0800 611 116.
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Last checked 9 September 2026