An Introduction to Talking with Dementia Reconsidered
The book series is jointly commissioned and edited by Professor Dawn Brooker MBE and by Dr Keith Oliver. Dawn has been active in the field of dementia care since the 1980’s as a clinician and an academic. She draws on her experience and international networks to bring together a series of books on the most pertinent issues in the field. Keith is one of the foremost international advocates for those living with dementia. He also brings an insightful perspective of his own and others’ experience of what it means to live with dementia gained since his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2010.
Dawn and Keith have been professional colleagues for many years. They both worked together on the 2nd Edition of Kitwood’s book entitled Dementia Reconsidered Revisited: The person still comes first. This 2019 publication was a reprint of the original text by Tom Kitwood alongside contemporary commentaries for each chapter written by current experts. Many topics in the field of dementia care, however, were simply unheard of in Kitwood’s lifetime. When Open University Press approached Dawn and Keith with the idea of developing a book series dedicated to dementia, they were very pleased to accept. The subsequent titles in this series are cutting-edge scholarly texts that challenge and engage readers to think deeply. They draw on theoretical understandings, contemporary research and experience to critically reflect on their topic in great depth.
In many respects, discussions about what it is like to live with dementia are a million miles away from the discussions that took place during Kitwood’s lifetime. He could not envisage that people living with dementia would be active players in shaping government and international policy; work as educators and motivational speakers; edit book series: create books, poetry and art that people would pay for; be social media experts and activists; run conferences and undertake research. What Kitwood did recognise, however, was that personhood is a deep issue in the humanity of all of us. He recognised the vital importance of ensuring that the key psychological needs of Inclusion, Attachment, Comfort, Occupation, and Identity are met. Moreover, Kitwood articulated that it is the wellspring of Love for our fellow human beings that has to remain at the heart of all our endeavours collectively and individually. Dementia sets up barriers to this but it does not defeat us.
Of all the books in the Reconsidering Dementia Series, it is this one which is the most radical and authentically co-produced. The friendship between Keith and Reinhard enables them to bring their unique perspectives on personhood to bear on their conversations with fifteen remarkable people. The Fifteen share their insights with breathtaking honesty, wisdom and humour. Many times in reading their accounts I found myself choked up with emotion despite my many years spent working directly with those affected by dementia. There is something uniquely powerful in the space provided by Keith and Reinhard that enables people to express how they feel. The conversations bring us all to witness the heart of the human condition. Ruth also joins with Keith and Reinhard to explore what this means for our contemporary and future understandings of dementia. This book is truly Kitwood Reconsidered in the twenty-first century.
Series Editor: Professor Dawn Brooker MBE
Talking with Dementia Reconsidered