Personalisation and Dementia

A refreshingly readable book, feels and looks like a text book but reads like a supportive coaching manual. Very in-depth but that doesn't distract from the clarity of the writing style... Too many highlights really including - "one-page profiles", "personalisation" and "person centred practices" because they have resonance across all spheres of Nursing. They make you sit up, think and reflect on your own work.

Chapter 5 "matching staff and clarifying responsibilities" is my highlight. Suggesting how matching staff characteristics with persons living with dementia, develops a win-win relationship... I would like to see everyone involved in elder care have access to a copy of this book. That's not just care staff, but non-care support staff too. It will be appropriate across all levels of nursing from NVQ support staff to ward managers and service providers.

-- Nursing Times
The person-centred practices outlined in this book show how to deliver genuine personalisation, where what is important for the person is balanced with what is important to the person's wellbeing. It is about the stuff that makes a life worth living: each person as an individual with their own needs, wishes, and dreams to be recognised and met... In the current economic climate, it is even more important that we make sure personalisation is about real choice and service. It is not, and must not be seen as, a way of cutting funding. I therefore warmly welcome the timely publication of a book that seeks to ensure we always see the person and not the dementia . -- from the Foreword by Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Society
This is a really useful book. All those supporting people with dementia in their own homes or within care homes will find this helpful. The person-centred thinking tools prompt readers to see what is really important to help people live their lives. On the surface level the tools are a format for planning care delivery. They are deceptively simple. They are never more than one page long but on a deeper level they help caring staff ask the sorts of transformational questions that pinpoint what is really important for the person. The worked examples are very real and moving and underscore that this is not just a paper exercise. This is essential reading for all advocates of person-centred care. -- Professor Dawn Brooker, Director of the University of Worcester Association for Dementia Stu