Life Story Work with People with Dementia

Polly Kaiser is a semi-retired old age clinical psychologist. She helps support the 'Greater Manchester Mature Minds Matter'. She has always campaigned for age equality and now has skin in the game Bob Woods is an Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology of Older People at Bangor University, Wales, UK. For over 40 years he combined clinical work in the NHS with research which has helped to develop and evaluate psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and their carers, including cognitive stimulation and reminiscence work. Rachel Thompson is Dementia Project Lead for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and is an Admiral Nurse with Dementia UK. Both have significant experience of nursing in dementia care in practice, research, teaching, and professional writing in this field. Maria Parsons is the Chief Executive of Creative Dementia Arts Network (CDAN). She has written widely about dementia care and presented at conferences all over the world. Maria was a member of the editorial group of the Journal of Dementia Care for twenty-one years and continues to serve on the Advisory Group. She lives in Bristol.

This is a really good and useful contribution. It is full of well-curated information and practical advice, but above all it is full of the humanity of people with dementia and the value of their stories. I thoroughly recommend this book.

• Acknowledgements. Foreword. Dawn Brooker. Introduction. Ruth Eley and Polly Kaiser. Section 1: Where has Life Story Work Come From? The Context of Life Story Work. 1. Narrative Approaches to Life Story Work. Polly Kaiser. 2. The Policy Context for Life Story Work. Ruth Eley. 3. Values, Rights and a Compassionate Culture - The Bedrock of High Quality Care and Support. Anna Gaughan. 4. Equality and Diversity in Life Story Work. Polly Kaiser. Section 2: Does it Work? The Evidence Base for Life Story Work. 5. Understanding the Outcomes of Life Story Work. Kate Gridley, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, UK. 6. The Evidence Base for Life Story Work So Far. Professor Bob Woods, DSDC Wales, Bangor University, UK and Ponnusamy Subramaniam, Health Psychology Programme, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia. Section 3. Why is it Important? The Benefits of Life Story Work. 7. The Benefits of Life Story Work for People with Dementia. Steve Milton. 8. The Benefits of Life Story Work for Family Carers - A Personal Perspective. Jean Tottie, Former Carer and Chair, Life Story Network CIC. 9. The Benefits of Life Story Work for Paid Staff. Lesley Jones and Gillian Drummond. Section 4: How Can We Use It? The Practicalities of Life Story Work in Various Settings. 10. Community Based Approaches to Life Story Work - Keeping People Connected. Ruth Eley, Polly Kaiser, John Shaw and Pat Broster. 11. How Does the Introduction of Life Story Work into a Memory Service Benefit Individuals with Dementia and their Family Carers. Joanne Sutton, Merseycare NHS Trust, UK. 12. Life Story Work for People with Dementia in Acute General Hospitals - An Alternative Model of Care? Rachel Thompson. 13. Life Story Work in Care Homes. Victoria Metcalfe, Dementia Guiding Light - Evermore, UK. 14. Spirituality and Life Story Work. Polly Kaiser. 15. Using Life Story Work in End of Life Care. Polly Kaiser. 16. Identifying and Overcoming Challenges in Life Story Work. Jane McKeown, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS FT, Kate Gridley and Nada Savitch. 17. Arts, Dementia and Life Story Work - Every Picture Tells a Story. Maria Pasiecznik Parsons. Section 5: What Next? 18. A European Perspective: New Opportunities. Marie-Jo Guisset Martinez, Associated Member, ICE Innovation in Care for the Elderly, France. 19. Conclusions and Looking Ahead. Polly Kaiser and Ruth Eley. Useful Resources. References. Index.