Christmas is a stressful time for many people and it can be particularly difficult for the 70,000 New Zealanders who live with dementia.
But a new campaign called Remember December aims to support them and their families through the festive season.
A trip to the local Christmas lights is a highlight for many Kiwi families. But for Nofo Vaha these are memories that won't last.
"She has no idea that it's Christmas," says her granddaughter Jessica Vaha.
That's because she is one of tens of thousands of New Zealanders living with dementia.
"For my nana, my heart just breaks for her because she's not the same person she used to be," Jessica says.
Dementia New Zealand wants to alleviate some of the holiday stress.
"This can be a really busy time of year with a lot of hustle and bustle and people moving around and changes in environment," spokesperson Lisa Burns says.
It's launched the Remember December campaign, supporting those with dementia and their families during the Christmas period.
"Just be really aware of extra noise, extra chaos, family chaos. Things like music and things like that can become quite overwhelming," Burns says.
The organisation also wants to teach people about spotting dementia early and it's using a familiar face to get the message across.
"We've looked at all of the things that Santa has to do to deliver Christmas and how the top early 10 warning signs may affect him to make a difficult topic much easier to tackle and understand," Burns says.
With dementia diagnosis expected to almost triple in the next 30 years it's a conversation that could give hundreds of families a head start.
"Coming from a Pasifika family you know like myself we need to talk about it more. You know it's ok to talk about dementia," Jessica says.
To help bring some calm to an overwhelming time of the year.
