Lively and critical study of the main approaches to Dementia Studies, examining current principles and ideologies as well as presenting alternative ideas for future care and understanding.

Offering practical advice for arts therapists and health care professionals, this book emphasizes the importance of putting the individual before the illness to provide holistic, person-centred support for people with dementia. The contributors are all practising healing arts therapists who show how music, dance and the visual arts can be used in partnership with person-centred care to promote improved memory, reduced anxiety, increased self-esteem, better communication and successful group interaction. They use case studies to demonstrate the ways in which therapists can encourage engagement...

'There has been a considerable and welcome growth of publications about dementia care and Jessica Kingsley Publishers has certainly played a very useful part in this growth... we need more not less of this quality of work and writing if society is to include those with dementia as full citizens.' - Christian Council on Ageing 'The editors are to be congratulated on assembling a collection of contributions which make this book a milestone in the literature on dementia research and practice... They] have collected papers on extraordinarily diverse issues and from a very diverse set of authors....

This authoritative collection sets out the critical role and application of evaluation in identifying and developing good practice in a range of dementia care settings. The contributors discuss the evaluation of care at different levels and in various settings, particularly long stay care, covering evaluation methods, ethics, use of technology and the user's role in the evaluation process itself. Their contributions on evaluating aspects of dementia care ranging from life story work and environmental considerations to medication and dementia care mapping is a useful basis for the discussion...

Focusing on theoretical, policy and practice issues which are increasingly identified as key priorities, the contributors to this important book examine the ways in which dementia care is evolving around the globe. They explore the latest theory underpinning dementia care, the applications of this theory in dementia care research and how this research is influencing and shaping practice. Written by practitioners, policy influencers and researchers who draw on case studies from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, France, India and Malta, the book forms the basis for a worldwide dialogue of...