People with dementia have often played a passive role in the investigation of their condition. The contributors to this book look at ways of redressing the balance and involving them in the research process. They describe the skills that researchers and care staff need, and the methods they can use, when seeking to draw out and validate the views of people with dementia successfully, and discuss the ways in which such views can be included in debates about dementia methodology and policy.

Dementia is a devastating disorder which may dramatically interfere with decision-making abilities. Effort has focused on trying to determine when a person is no longer capable of making particular decisions or is globally incompetent. However, much less focus has been placed on understanding how the capacity to make decisions influences one's view of oneself, one's world and one's treatment by others. This book aims to broaden discussion around this issue by moving beyond a focus on notio...

People with dementia need increasingly specialised support as they approach the end of life, and so too do their families and the professionals working with them. This book describes not only what can be done to ensure maximum quality of life for those in the final stages of the illness, but also how best to support those involved in caring for them.Emphasising the importance of being attuned to the experiences and needs of the person with dementia, the authors explain why and how ...

What is the future of old age? How will families, services, and economies adapt to an older population? Such questions often provoke extreme and opposing answers: some see ageing populations as having the potential to undermine economic growth and prosperity; others see new and exciting ways of living in old age. The Futures of Old Age places these questions in the context of social and political change, and assesses what the various futures of old age might be.Pre...

A comprehensive text on dementia care, drawn from research evidence, practice and the experience of people with dementia.

For the increasing number of people diagnosed with dementia each year, treatment in the early stages can make a significant difference to their quality of life. This book provides examples of psychosocial interventions: taking into consideration the individual, social and environmental aspects of the person's life.It looks at ways of providing support at the time of diagnosis and goes on to explore a variety of interventions and services for the treatment of early dementia. Bringin...

Although currently many people with dementia are not given the opportunity to receive professional counselling, this book explores the value of counselling for men and women living with this condition and how it enables them to make sense of their lives and their notions of themselves. The author explores the pervasive myth that all experiences of living with dementia are entirely negative and shows counsellors and carers how a person-centred counselling experience can have positive outcom...

The truly inspirational account of living positively with dementia.Christine Bryden was a top civil servant and single mother of three children when she was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 46. Since then she has gone on to challenge almost every stereotype of people with dementia by campaigning for self-advocacy, writing articles and speaking at national conferences.This book is a vivid account of the author's experiences of living with dementia, expl...

Christine Bryden was 46 years old when she was diagnosed with dementia, and in this book she describes her remarkable emotional, physical and spiritual journey in the three years immediately following. Offering rare first-hand insights into how it feels to gradually lose the ability to undertake tasks most people take for granted, it is made all the more remarkable by Christine's positivity and strength, and deep sense, drawn in part from her Christian faith, that life continues to have pu...

Kate Swaffer was just 49 years old when she was diagnosed with a form of younger onset dementia. In this book, she offers an all-too-rare first-hand insight into that experience, sounding a clarion call for change in how we ensure a better quality of life for people with dementia.Kate describes vividly her experiences of living with dementia, exploring the effects of memory difficulties, loss of independence, leaving long-term employment, the impact on her teenage sons, and the eno...

'Hi Dad . . . can we have a chat about your dementia . . . Can you remember how it started?'When Ron Husband started to forget things - dates, names, appointments . . . daft things, important things - it took a while to realise that this was 'a different form of forgetting'. But it was just the first sign of the illness that gradually took him away from the family he loved.This is the touching, illustrated story of Tony's father and how dementia slowly took him awa...

When tasked with providing activities for older people in care homes, it can be difficult to know where to begin. What constitutes an activity? How can you make sure activities are as positive and person-centred as possible? What can you actually do? Written by an experienced activity coordinator, this handbook is an indispensable companion for others in this role. The author provides useful background information on dementia, the importance of activities and how to get to know residents t...