Dilemmas and Decision Making in Dementia Care

Book excerpt: This book is invaluable to nurses and all health and social care practitioners working with people living with dementia in a variety of contexts. It presents a series of true-to-life case studies tackling the ethical and practical dilemmas of dementia care and how to use theoretical approaches to come to potential solutions. The reader is encouraged to explore evidence-based approaches to practice, based on the professional reasoning and experience of the practitioner and the emotional psychological and practical needs of the person living with dementia. Key themes running through case studies include: effective communication, person-centred practice, social citizenship, strengths-based approaches and relationship-focused support, as well as organisational culture. Each case study provides readers with opportunities to experience and discuss clinical dilemmas in a safe space with an annotated thinking-aloud framework that allows them to unpack the elements of each situation so as to develop a range of solution-focused perspectives in order to overcome barriers and deliver best practice.