Exploring concepts of ageing, personhood, capacity, liberty, best interests and the nature and ethics of palliative care, this book will help those in the caring professions to understand and engage with the thoughts and arguments underpinning the experience of dementia and dementia care.Dementia is associated with ageing: what is the significance of this? People speak about person-centred care, but what is personhood and how can it be maintained? What is capacity, and how is it linked with the way a person with dementia is cared for as a human being? How should we think about the law in relation to the care of older people? Is palliative care the right approach todementia, and if so what are the consequences of this view? What role can the arts play in ensuring quality of life for people with dementia?In answering such questions, Julian Hughes brings our attention back to the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of dementia care, shedding new light on the significance and implications for those in the caring professions, academics and researchers, and those living with dementia and their families.
Preface. Introduction. Part I: Ageing. 1. Our Changing Expectations of Life: What Do We Really Want? 2. Research, Ageing andDementia. Part II: Personhood. 3. Memory: Inner or Outer? 4. I am still the same person. 5. The Body in Dementia. Part III: Capacity andIncapacity. 6. 'Capacity': What is it and so what? 7. Capacity Legislation in Practice: Balancing Personal and Polis. 8. Incapacity and MentalDisorder. Part IV: Palliative and Supportive Care. 9. Beyond Hypercognitivism. 10. Understanding the Language of Distress. 11. Ethics, Patterns,Causes and Pathways: In Pursuit of Good Palliative Care. 12. Intentions and Best Interests: Dying and Killing. Part V: Arts. 13. The Art andPractice of Memory and Forgetting co-authored with Ashley McCormick, artist, curator and educator. 14. In Praise of 'Negative Capability': Keatsand Killick. Conclusion: Care Solicitude and Solidarity. References and Further Reading. Index.
How We Think About Dementia is a book directed at professionals or people who are familiar with research and medical terminology... Hughes identifies ethical concerns through the use of case studies. Within these case studies, circumstances are shared that bring to light challenges that may be encountered by caregivers... Services, ethical considerations, methods and barriers to care are covered well in the book from a professional perspective... the majority of the book provides a sense of direction for professionals (medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, etcetera) in caring for a patient with dementia.
