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Overview
This book provides a comprehensive research-based source of material, which focuses on the important issue of dementia and family care. It critically examines how dementia is defined, diagnosed and "treated" and provides a new environmentally focused approach to this challenging and growing issue for nurses and other care givers.
Disc. ethical dilemmas, research paradigms, professional practice, young onset dementia, residential care, etc.
Synopsis
This book provides a comprehensive research-based source of material, which focuses on the important issue of dementia and family care. It critically examines how dementia is defined, diagnosed and "treated" and provides a new environmentally focused approach to this challenging and growing issue for nurses and other care givers.
Editorials
Reviewer: Sandy C. Burgener, PhD, MS, RNC(Indiana University School of Nursing)
Description: The book draws heavily on writings examining person-centered care and maintenance of the person throughout dementia. It focuses on three primary practice areas: approaches to practice, person-centered practice, and practice systems, drawing heavily on research and writings evolving from Great Britain.
Purpose: The book is intended as a guide to innovative practices for professionals from various disciplines working with persons with dementia. It is intended to focus primarily on person-centered care. These are worthy objectives, considering the overwhelming support for the current medicalization of dementia. The book sets the stage for this, but perhaps goes too far in attempting to describe approaches to meet care needs, palliative care, etc., without really fully addressing these care approaches from a data-based perspective.
Audience: The target audience includes professionals working with persons with dementia. Some chapters, such as the first, are written simply, more at lay level. The authors tend to ramble at times, without making a cohesive link from one area to another, i.e., the subjective voice of dementia to dementia as disability.
Features: The book is unique in that it addresses some areas of concern not addressed by other dementia care texts, such as younger persons with dementia as a subgroup with special care needs and group work with persons with dementia. Other chapters (i.e., communication techniques, physical care needs, palliative care, elder abuse) are commonly found in other books and are often addressed more robustly and scientifically there. The chapter on physical care needs is especially as important areas such as assessing and diagnosing respiratory problems, incontinence care, delirium, etc. are not addressed. It is unclear how the specific care issues were chosen. Other very important areas, such as the diagnostic process, managing passive behaviors, etc., are not addressed although they represent major care concerns for persons with dementia.
Assessment: This book provides a useful perspective in assisting care providers to develop and maintain a person-centered approach to care. Where it falls short is the superficial approach or content for some very complex areas, such as physical care needs. Overwhelmingly, the references used evolve from the U.K., with a very large body of research from other countries being scantily represented, although the richness of this additional research would have strengthened the text.