Dementia

Working with people with dementia and their carers is one of the most exciting fields of social work. The dramatic increase in numbers makes it a high priority for health, local authorities, private and voluntary agencies. At the same time, the field offers constantly changing approaches and improving techniques. Multidisciplinary work is needed to such an extent that it challenges all the recent legislation and guidance on community care; new models of services are being tried all the time and it is so free from protocol and procedure that imaginative practice is still very possible. This book, by leading professionals in the field, explores the new skills needed. These include counselling, the creative use of the past, groupwork, empowerment – particularly important in a low status field such as this, family therapy, care management, and network analysis. Also covered is multidisciplinary work. The book is intended to build on what readers already know, while exploring new dimensions of work in the field and introducing new ideas.