Performance And Dementia

This book explores how theatre and performance can change the way we think about dementia and some of the environments in which dementia care takes place. Drawing on the author’s creative practice and other performance projects in the UK, it explores some of the challenges and opportunities of making performance in care homes. Rather than focusing on the transformative potential of the arts, it asks how artists can engage with the different types of relationships that exist in a care community. These include the relationships that residents and staff have with each other as well as relationships with care spaces. Exploring the intersection between participatory performance and the everyday creativity of a care home, it argues that the arts have a cultural role to play in supporting dementia care as a relational practice. Moreover, it celebrates the intrinsic creativity of caregiving and how principles and practices of care work can inform theatre and performance in diverse ways.

As the largest generation in U.S. history - the population born in the two decades immediately following World War II - enters the age of risk for cognitive impairment, growing numbers of people will experience dementia (including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias). By one estimate, nearly 14 million people in the United States will be living with dementia by 2060. Like other hardships, the experience of living with dementia can bring unexpected moments of intimacy, growth, and compassion, but these diseases also affect people's capacity to work and carry out other activities and alter their relationships with loved ones, friends, and coworkers. Those who live with and care for individuals experiencing these diseases face challenges that include physical and emotional stress, difficult changes and losses in their relationships with life partners, loss of income, and interrupted connections to other activities and friends. From a societal perspective, these diseases place substantial demands on communities and on the institutions and government entities that support people living with dementia and their families, including the health care system, the providers of direct care, and others. Nevertheless, research in the social and behavioral sciences points to possibilities for preventing or slowing the development of dementia and for substantially reducing its social and economic impacts. At the request of the National Institute on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America assesses the contributions of research in the social and behavioral sciences and identifies a research agenda for the coming decade. This report offers a blueprint for the next decade of behavioral and social science research to reduce the negative impact of dementia for America's diverse population. Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America calls for research that addresses the causes and solutions for disparities in both developing dementia and receiving adequate treatment and support. It calls for research that sets goals meaningful not just for scientists but for people living with dementia and those who support them as well. By 2030, an estimated 8.5 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease and many more will have other forms of dementia. Through identifying priorities social and behavioral science research and recommending ways in which they can be pursued in a coordinated fashion, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America will help produce research that improves the lives of all those affected by dementia.

Societies around the world are concerned about dementia and the other forms of cognitive impairment that affect many older adults. We now know that brain changes typically begin years before people show symptoms, which suggests a window of opportunity to prevent or delay the onset of these conditions. Emerging evidence that the prevalence of dementia is declining in high-income countries offers hope that public health interventions will be effective in preventing or delaying cognitive impairments. Until recently, the research and clinical communities have focused primarily on understanding and treating these conditions after they have developed. Thus, the evidence base on how to prevent or delay these conditions has been limited at best, despite the many claims of success made in popular media and advertising. Today, however, a growing body of prevention research is emerging. Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Way Forward assesses the current state of knowledge on interventions to prevent cognitive decline and dementia, and informs future research in this area. This report provides recommendations of appropriate content for inclusion in public health messages from the National Institute on Aging.

Now presented in full color, this updated edition of Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease, and Dementia is designed as a practical guide for clinicians that delivers the latest treatment approaches and research findings for dementia and related illnesses. Drs. Budson and Solomon — both key leaders in the field — cover the essentials of physical and cognitive examinations and laboratory and imaging studies, giving you the tools you need to consistently make accurate diagnoses in this rapidly growing area. Access in-depth coverage of clinically useful diagnostic tests and the latest treatment approaches. Detailed case studies facilitate the management of both common and uncommon conditions. Comprehensive coverage of hot topics such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in addition to new criteria on vascular dementia and vascular cognitive impairment. Includes new National Institute on Aging–Alzheimer's Association and DSM-5 criteria for Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Learn how to use new diagnostic tests, such as the amyloid imaging scans florbetapir (Amyvid), flutemetamol (Vizamyl), and florbetaben (Neuraceq), which can display amyloid plaques in the living brains of patients. Updated case studies, many complete with videos illustrating common tests, clinical signs, and diagnostic features, are now incorporated into the main text as clinical vignettes for all major disorders. Brand-new chapters on how to approach the differential diagnosis and on primary progressive aphasia. Expert Consult eBook version included with purchase. This enhanced eBook experience allows you to search all of the text, figures, references, and videos from the book on a variety of devices.

By 2030 there will be about 70 million people in the United States who are older than 64. Approximately 26 percent of these will be racial and ethnic minorities. Overall, the older population will be more diverse and better educated than their earlier cohorts. The range of late-life outcomes is very dramatic with old age being a significantly different experience for financially secure and well-educated people than for poor and uneducated people. The early mission of behavioral science research focused on identifying problems of older adults, such as isolation, caregiving, and dementia. Today, the field of gerontology is more interdisciplinary. When I'm 64 examines how individual and social behavior play a role in understanding diverse outcomes in old age. It also explores the implications of an aging workforce on the economy. The book recommends that the National Institute on Aging focus its research support in social, personality, and life-span psychology in four areas: motivation and behavioral change; socioemotional influences on decision-making; the influence of social engagement on cognition; and the effects of stereotypes on self and others. When I'm 64 is a useful resource for policymakers, researchers and medical professionals.

Dementia is the most significant health issue facing our aging population. With no cure to date, there is an urgent need for the development of interventions that can alleviate symptoms of dementia and ensure optimal well-being for people with dementia and their caregivers. There is accumulating evidence that music is a highly effective, non-pharmacological treatment for various symptoms of dementia at all stages of disease progression. In its various forms, music (as a medium for formal therapy or an informal activity) engages widespread brain regions, and in doing so, can promote numerous benefits, including triggering memories, enhancing relationships, affirming a sense of self, facilitating communication, reducing agitation, and alleviating depression and anxiety. This book outlines the current research and understanding of the use of music for people with dementia, from internationally renowned experts in music therapy, music psychology, and clinical neuropsychology.

Diet and Nutrition in Dementia and Cognitive Decline offers researchers and clinicians a single authoritative source which outlines the complex interrelationships between cognitive decline, dementia and the way diet can be modified to improve outcomes. In a cross-disciplinary field like dementia research and practice, clinicians and researchers need a comprehensive resource which will quickly help them identify a range of nutritional components and how they affect cognitive decline and the development of dementia. While the focus is on clinical applications, the book also features landmark and innovative preclinical studies that have served as the foundation of rigorous trials. Chapters explore the evidence of how nutritional components, either in the diet or supplements, can either impede the development to, or progression from, the onset of dementia. Authors investigate how conditions and processes overlap between defined conditions and present studies which show that dietary components may be equally effective in a number of conditions characterized by declining cognition or dementia. This book represents essential reading for researchers and practicing clinicians in nutrition, dietetics, geriatrics, nursing, neurology, and psychology, as well as researchers, such as neuroscientists, molecular and cellular biochemists, interested in dementia. Explores the complex interrelationships between cognitive decline, dementia and the way diet can be modified to improve outcomes Focuses on both clinical nutrition applications and the innovative preclinical studies that serve as the foundation for rigorous trials Covers specific conditions and mechanisms in dementias, as well as general aspects, risk factors, lifestyle and guidelines for practitioners Organizes chapter content in terms of the molecular, mechanistic, epidemiologic, and practical, so that correlations can be observed across conditions

"As you have grown older, you may have noticed changes in your memory. You might find yourself walking into a room and forgetting why you are there. It might be more difficult to remember the name of someone you just met. You may also notice that it takes longer to come up with words in conversation"--