The man, who declined to be named, said his wife had been suffering from dementia for the past eight years, but her condition had advanced over the past two years to the point where she required one-on-one attention, 24 hours a day.
He said she had limited capacity for verbal communication and was also prone to wandering off, which meant he had to keep one eye on her at all times.
"I have to do everything in the house in terms of cooking meals, carrying out basic tasks, making sure she is comfortable and attended to and checking that she’s not wandered off somewhere, which happens a lot.
"I’ve got tracking devices which are not perfect, but on each occasion when these things happen, they have resolved one way or another, without any crisis, because people have called me. Even the police have.
"Her behaviour, her condition, has also produced uncomfortable responses at times - responses that are very uncharacteristic for her as a normal person.
"Nevertheless, that’s just one aspect of her situation, which makes things clear that a point is very, very close where she needs to be in care."
While Wānaka had a dementia-level care facility, it was full and had a long waiting list.
"That is kind of symptomatic of the fact that we don’t have enough provision in the town."
He said it was heartbreaking and he was extremely worried about their future.
"I’m worried about both - for her sake and myself - so far as providing us with a care environment that is manageable and safe for each of us."
At this stage, he said he may have to move his wife to another town or city where there is a care facility.
The nearest facility was in Cromwell, but it, too, had a long waiting list.
"I’ll be faced with [my wife] being out of my hometown and out of the hometown of her friends, which makes it very difficult for maintaining contacts with the outside world, so far as she’s concerned.
"I can’t put myself in her place except to say that clearly, that’s the most unsatisfactory thing for someone to be housed and homed in a situation that’s far removed from all her social supports."
So for the time being, he planned to "hang out for as long as I can". How long that would be, he was not sure.
In the meantime, his life had stopped.
"I’m devoted to looking after her and that’s a 24-hour job.
"People say I’m burning out - and if I’m not, then it’s not far away. But I mean, you know, one has to manage.
"I haven’t reached breaking point, but it’s very stressful, I can tell you that."
The district is estimated to have about 500 people living with dementia and, based on projections, it is estimated about 630 people will be living with dementia in the area by 2050.
He recently wrote a letter to Minister of Mental Health Matt Doocey about the increasing number of people with dementia in the regions and the shortage of dementia-level care.
He told Mr Doocey their situation had reached a point now where, for the safety and wellbeing of both he and his wife, she needed to go into fulltime care.
"But there is just one 20-bed facility in Wānaka and I am told that my wife will be 19th on the waiting list.
"I am further advised that the nearest places with any available bed at present are either Dunedin or Oamaru - which of course is a hugely daunting proposition on top of an already mightily distressing situation."
He said his situation was not an isolated one.
"The issue that I am personally confronted with now has unquestionably arisen through a desperate shortfall of funding and resources for this care provision, right throughout the southern region.
"The question I put to you Matt is, what can you do to help resolve this desperate shortage, so that our society is better prepared to care for the hugely increasing numbers of these people?
"The situation that I and many others are faced with is just not fair or reasonable."
Mr Doocey was unavailable for comment yesterday.
