Poet Kristen Phillips on her loving book about her dad

Close to 70,000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand are currently living with a dementia diagnosis. And that number is rapidly growing as the population ages, with an estimated 100,000 more to be diagnosed by 2050.

The degenerative brain disease can affect thinking, independent function, and behaviour.

But for many of us, navigating dementia is a personal and often heartbreaking story, as we watch someone we love change.

But not everything has to, as Kristen Phillips illustrates in her loving book Dad, you've got dementia: Conversations with my Father.

Now back in Wellington after 30 years in London, the basis of the Kristen's book began during phone calls with her father, Don, while she was still overseas.