Understanding Dementia

Part 1 compares existing models of dementia, stressing the limitations of the organic model. The social model of dementia is also considered, in particular how it helps in understanding and changing therapists' often negative attitudes to older people with dementia. Part 2 describes Cheston and Bender's integrated socio-psychological model which combines the person-centred model and the social model and emphasizes the emotions, social context and sense of identity of the person with dementia. It focuses on the potential of carers to support sufferers' own understanding of the process they are engaging in. The penultimate part of the book shows how this model can be applied to improve the quality of assessments of dementia, and suggests ways of adapting therapeutic intervention (in individual and group counselling, psychotherapy, staff training and work with carers) to meet the specific needs of this group. In conclusion, the authors draw out implications for service delivery and future policy and practice developments.