Dementia and Social Work Practice: Research and Interventions

This book contains a volume of expert articles on the biological, psychological, and social aspects of dementia. Readers will be learning the latest assessment instruments and distinguishing between Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's dementias. The effects of culture and diversity on the treatment of persons with dementia are examined as well as the benefits and drawbacks of adult day services, community care, and residential care. Finally, there are intervention strategies for every stage of dementia as well as a discussion of legal, financial, and psychological stresses of caregivers with dementia.

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"Practical coverage of driving, day care, support groups, and respite is particularly welcome. This is a good book to have available, not just for social work faculty and students, but also for those in the health sciences, psychology, and sociology. It will be a useful resource for professionals coping with the increasing problems for family and community that an aging population and the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease bring with them....Recommended. Lower-level undergraduate through professionals/practitioners."--Choice

Beyond the immediate and devastating effects dementia can have on individuals and their quality of life are the strains that are placed on the families, caregivers, and communities that support them. Social workers are in a unique position to address all these issues at the same time that they provide care for individuals with dementia.

To facilitate the entrance of social workers into this area of care, Carol B. Cox has edited a volume of expert articles on the biological, psychological, and social aspects of dementia. . Readers will learn the latest assessment instruments, as well as how to distinguish between Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's dementias. Intervention strategies for every stage of dementia are presented. The effects of culture and diversity on the treatment of persons with dementia are examined, including examples of successful programs from several countries. The benefits and drawbacks of adult day services, community care, and residential care are discussed. Finally, a discussion of the legal, financial, and psychological stresses faced by caregivers of those with dementia rounds out this much needed text.

Carole B. Cox, Ph.D., is professor at the Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the author of more than 50 journal articles and chapters dealing with various aspects of aging and caregiving. She has done extensive research on caregivers for persons with Alzheimer's disease, their needs, and use of services with a particular focus on ethnicity. In the last few years, she has expanded her interest in caregiving to that of grandparents raising their grandchildren. She has developed a program and curriculum for empowerment training for grandparents, Empowering Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Training Manual for Group Leaders (Springer Publishing Company, 2000) and is also the editor of To Grandmothers House We Go and Stay: Perspectives on Custodial Grandparents (Springer Publishing Company, 2000). Her other books include Home Care for the Elderly: An International Perspective, co-authored with Abraham Monk (1991); The Frail Elderly: Problems, Needs, and Community Responses (1993); Ethnicity and Social Work Practice, co-authored with Paul Ephross (1998); and Community Care for an Aging Society: Policies and Services (Springer Publishing Company, 2005).