More than 800,000 people in the UK are currently affected by dementia, a figure set to increase as the population ages. This book, addressed to carers and loved ones, explores how to handle the difficult emotions involved in looking after a loved one with dementia, such as denial, shame, anger, guilt and grief. It examines the harrowing process of effectively losing a person on a day-to-day basis, and suggests the best ways to maintain psychological health and well-being. Topics include: · Understanding the changes in memory, personality and behaviour · Developing an understanding of personal challenge · Overcoming loneliness and isolation · How family dynamics may affect the caring experience · ‘The long goodbye’ - coping with progressive decline · Severe dementia and end of life care · Finding meaning in the experience – is there a ‘positive’ side of looking after someone with dementia?

A diagnosis of dementia changes the ways people engage with each other – for those living with dementia, as well their families, caregivers, friends, health professionals, neighbours, shopkeepers and the community. Medical understandings, necessary as they are, provide no insights into how we may all live good lives with dementia. This innovative volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners to focus on dementia as lived experience. It foregrounds dementia’s social, moral, political and economic dimensions, investigating the challenges of reframing the dementia experience for all involved. Part I critiques the stigmas, the negativity, language and fears often associated with a dementia diagnosis, challenging debilitating representations and examining ways to tackle these. Part II examines proactive practices that can support better long-term outcomes for those living with dementia. Part III looks at the relational aspects of dementia care, acknowledging and going beyond the notion of person-centred care. Collectively, these contributions highlight the social and relational change required to enhance life for those with dementia and those who care for them. Engaging in a critical conversation around personhood and social value, this book examines the wider social contexts within which dementia care takes place. It calls for social change, and looks for inspiration to the growing movement for relational care and the caring society. Dementia as Social Experience is important reading for all those people who, in various ways, are living with dementia, as well as for those working in this area as clinicians, researcher and carers.

An invaluable, comprehensive guide that explains everything you and your family need to know about living well with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. A loved one’s dementia diagnosis can leave you feeling scared and overwhelmed. Now a renowned geriatrician who has helped thousands of families live happy, engaged lives—after a dementia diagnosis—shares her expertise in this easy-to-follow guide. Filled with must-have information, practical advice, and unique and comforting insights, here is everything you need to know about caring for your loved one and making his or her life the best possible—starting now, even as the disease progresses. Inside, you’ll find: · How to create a plan of action for today—and tomorrow—that will help all involved cope with this new normal · How to keep your vulnerable loved one safe and secure—both physically and financially · Lifestyle changes, innovative new activities, and holistic interventions that can slow the progression of dementia · Comprehensive information on both prescription and OTC medications that can help or hurt dementia patients · Dealing with day-to-day challenges, from staying mobile to overcoming agitation and aggression without resorting to sedation · How and where to get help, including online support groups, home health care agencies, care managers, neuropsychologists, communities and day programs for people with dementia, and government agencies · Tips on keeping your loved one at home versus placement in a long-term care facility In addition to all the essential advice, Dr. Landsverk demystifies the ins and outs of dementia, explaining what it is and what it’s not, and making sure you and your loved one will be ready to address whatever develops and maintain quality of life. Uniquely, Living in the Moment will transform how you think about dementia, providing comfort and support for the best life possible—at any stage.

Day-to-Day Living With Dementia offers essential caregiving guidance, including practical tips and resources, techniques for working through difficult emotions, and strategies for managing common dementia-related challenges. Caring for someone with dementia can be a challenging, heartbreaking experience … but it can also be rewarding, fulfilling and meaningful. Millions of people around the world are living with Alzheimer’s disease and similar disorders. Millions more are in a caring and supportive role. As many as 1 in 4 Baby Boomers provides care for someone living with dementia, and this number is only expected to grow. Most dementia caregivers find that the first, and sometimes most difficult step, is accepting the diagnosis and adjusting to a new normal. In Day-to-Day Living With Dementia, Angela Lunde, M.A., an expert in dementia care at Mayo Clinic, helps you take that first step and chart your path toward living well, even in the face of dementia. In her 20 years of experience with dementia, Ms. Lunde has made it her mission to improve emotional well-being and quality of life for those living with dementia and their care partners. This book gives you the research-backed strategies Ms. Lunde applies in her work every day. Day-to-Day Living With Dementia will help you: · Acknowledge and work through difficult emotions · Find helpful resources for practical and emotional support · Understand what someone with dementia may be thinking and feeling · Learn techniques for coping with common caregiver challenges · Find ways to care for yourself

“This book holds the story of a monumental research effort… It provides a moving, thoughtful, understanding of what “neighbourhood” means and is a beacon for efforts aimed at improving the quality of life of all involved.” Steven R. Sabat, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA “It is indicative reading for educators, researchers, clinicians and policy makers nationally and internationally. By grounding the underpinning research in the lived experience of people with dementia, the book’s appeal extends to voluntary and community groups. Reading it is a must!” Assumpta Ryan, Professor of Ageing and Health, Ulster University, UK “A remarkable contribution to the ‘Reconsidering Dementia’ series.” Bob Woods, Emeritus Professor, Bangor University, UK This book provides research based insights into the lived experience of dementia, aging in place and the use of participatory and creative social research approaches in the field of dementia studies. For the first time the key findings of one of the UKs largest funded social science research projects, the Neighbourhoods study, are assembled into one accessibly written blueprint for dementia care aiding better understanding of the place and position of those living with dementia in the home and neighbourhood context. Reconsidering Neighbourhoods and Living with Dementia highlights the importance of home for people living with dementia and that neighbourhoods are seen to be relational, virtual, technological, connected, lived, remembered, and imagined, and to exist within and across time. The book is organised under five key parts: •The Lived Neighbourhood •Neighbourhoods, Measurement and Technology •Neighbourhoods and Big Data •Personal Well-Being and Neighbourhood Programme Support •Bringing it Together and Future Directions This comprehensive book is appropriate to a wide range of readers and disciplines including those living with dementia, the related health and voluntary professions, family carers, practitioners, academics, and students undertaking a variety of courses aligned to gerontology, dementia studies and human geography. The Reconsidering Dementia Series is an interdisciplinary series published by Open University Press that covers contemporary issues to challenge and engage readers in thinking deeply about the topic. The dementia field has developed rapidly in its scope and practice over the past ten years and books in this series will unpack not only what this means for the student, academic and practitioner, but also for all those affected by dementia. Series Editors: Dr Keith Oliver and Professor Dawn Brooker MBE. John Keady is a mental health nurse who has been involved in dementia care for over 30 years. Since 2006, he has held a joint appointment between the University of Manchester and the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. He was the Chief Investigator of the Neighbourhoods study.

A practical guide to helping those living with dementia live their best life in a way that makes sense to them. Essential reading for anyone working with people living with dementia, this book explains the concept of Self-Directed Support and Care for people living with dementia and links the various Person Centred approaches within dementia care with Person Centred Planning and Community based approaches. As the content unfolds, the concept of the Dementia Care Triad (people living with dementia, unpaid carers and professional carers) is explored and developed further to include the layer of community. The links between the health and social care legal context, guidance documents and national dementia strategies are presented with good, actionable practice, approaches, tools and informed advice to achieve Person Centred dementia care and support, with an emphasis on communities Living a Good Life with Dementia will help professionals and carers gain knowledge and insight to be able to develop creative ideas for the care and support they want to have in place.

Traditionally, dementia has been defined primarily in terms of loss: loss of cognitive and communicative competencies, loss of identity, loss of personal relationships. People living with dementia have been portrayed as increasingly dependent on others, with their loved ones seen more as care givers than as spouses, children and relatives. However, in the last two decades this view of the person living with dementia as an 'empty vessel' has been increasingly challenged, and the focus has shifted from one of care to one of helping people to live with dementia. With contributions from an international range of expert authors, Living with Dementia strongly advocates this new perspective through in-depth discussion of what people with dementia and their loved ones can do, and how they can actively make use of remaining resources. Topics covered include: - How to involve people with dementia in collaborative activities in the home, and the benefits this has on their cognitive and communicative abilities. - Ways in which identity can be presented and preserved through storytelling, and the impact on identity of moving from home into residential care. - The benefits of a 'citizenship' approach to dementia: of recognising that a person living with dementia is an active agent, with the right to self-determination and the ability to exert power over their own lives. This important new contribution to the dementia debate is truly enlightening reading for students across the full range of health and social care disciplines, and offers a fresh perspective to existing practitioners and those who care for people with dementia.

How to Live Well with Dementia: Expert Help for People Living with Dementia and their Family, Friends, and Care Partners provides an array of essential guidance about the different aspects of dementia for all whose lives are touched by dementia, including people living with dementia and their support network. Following an effective Q&A framework, this book offers valuable, easy-to-navigate guidance on the burning questions that those living with a dementia diagnosis and their carer/supporter need to know. Questions addressed include ‘How can I adjust to life with the diagnosis?’, ‘How can I plan for the future?’, and ‘How can we support our loved ones living with dementia?’. It provides expert explanations about changes in the brain and the various causes and types of dementia, as well as support on how to adjust to living with a diagnosis. It also offers practical information about care planning and advanced directives, maintaining health and social connections, accessing appropriate community care, and supporting medical and hospital care. It concludes with important self-care information for care/support partners. Written jointly by academic experts and experts through lived experience, this book is indispensable for people living with dementia, care partners, and anyone wanting to understand more about the condition, as well as health and social care professionals and students of health and social care.