And in the End

When one of our loved ones or someone whom we are trying to help professionally is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or another type of dementia, we are presented with what is often considered a terrible fate that ends with death. We can, however, look...

Resilience, Selfhood, and Creativity

Kate Swaffer is co-founder and co-chair of Dementia Alliance International, chair of the Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Advisory Committee, and speaks internationally to educate people about dementia and enlightened care of people diagnosed. In 2015, she was among the finalists in the Australian of the Year...

Alzheimer’s Disease: The Subjective Experience

The biomedical approach to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia in general during most of the 20th century limited the general public’s knowledge about AD primarily to what was wrong with people, and those diagnosed were often described in the mass media as “empty shells.” Thus,...

Alzheimer’s Disease: Biological Aspects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was first identified by Alois Alzheimer in 1906 in his patient, Frau Auguste D. Dr. Alzheimer saw Frau D in 1901 and observed her rather striking symptoms that normally would have been described as “senile dementia.” It would have been called this...

Types of Care and the Role of Spirituality

The powerful stigma and negative stereotypes regarding Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias can lead to unnecessary fear, embarrassment, anger, and depression in people diagnosed and their loved ones. The importance of providing education and supportive care that is not influenced by stigma and stereotype...

People with Alzheimer’s Disease and the Social World

Life in the everyday social world can be a very difficult, even foreboding, experience for a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or another type of dementia, or it can be an experience characterized by acceptance, understanding, and nurturance and can be rewarding despite the...

Dementia

People have often asked me questions such as “Is Alzheimer’s worse than dementia?” or “When will we find a cure for dementia?” So, even though this book is titled Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, it would make sense first to understand what dementia itself...