Mrs Owens said: “The consultant just said ‘oh yes, your husband’s got vascular dementia’, and I really wasn’t ready for that. I hadn’t thought anything about dementia.”
She was then told there was nothing the doctor could give her husband of 54 years for his dementia, and when she asked what she was supposed to do was told “oh we’ll give you some leaflets”.
She said: “So they gave me a wad of leaflets, and then goodbye, shook hands and went out through the door. Well, I was dumbfounded actually.”
The Alzheimer’s Society, which supports people with all kinds of dementia, asked people with the condition along with those who care for them across Wales, England and Northern Ireland about the amount of support they received.
One in five of the near 3,500 people surveyed said they got no support after diagnosis, while only 29% said care related to dementia was easy to access.
Two in five people with dementia said they were ashamed and felt the condition was stigmatised.
Gemma Roberts from the Alzheimer’s Society said: “There are many people that are really being let down by the system and the system is failing people.
“We’re talking about investing money in helping people to live well in their homes for longer.”