CONTENTED DEMENTIA

Oliver James (Vermilion £17.99)

As the title suggests, this is about improving the quality of life of people with dementia. It is a thorough account of an approach called Specialized Early Care for Alzheimer’s (Specal), which is offered by a charity based in Burford.

The method has been devised largely by Penny Garner, who is Oliver James’ mother-in-law. She thought out Specal while she cared for her mother, Dorothy.

The book is laid out clearly and with practical steps for the reader to learn the method.

It starts arrestingly with three commandments: don’t ask questions; learn from the patient, who is the expert on their own disability; and always agree with everything they say, never interrupting them. In the first part, after an initial chapter on Dorothy’s story, the author lays out what Penny discovered.

Then in the second part he takes the reader through the Specal method. This is very practical, describing the techniques used and offering exercises so the reader can learn how to put the method into practice.

The final part explains carefully how Specal can be transferred to a nursing home setting. The book concludes with a detailed and interesting case history and a section of helpful Frequently Asked Questions.

Contented Dementia claims to offer a real chance of sustained well-being for those with dementia, by making a virtue of the way sufferers can only use their long-past experiences to make sense of the present.

The author points out how sufferers are caused great anxiety because they cannot remember the recent past. Specal offers a way of preventing the anxiety, to generate the contentment in the book’s title.

Specal has been subjected to independent scrutiny, as it has been verified and commended by the Royal College of Nursing, and the Alzheimer’s Society has praised the method for its person-centred care.

Anyone who has regular contact with a person with dementia would benefit from a look at this very readable book, although relatives who are carers will find it of greatest interest.

This is not only very encouraging and positive for those faced with the challenge of caring for a dementia sufferer, but it will also be reassuring for those who have recently been diagnosed with the condition.

Phil Bloomfield