Dementia Care: The Adaptive Response

A stress reductionist approach

The process of dementia makes the experience of day to day living an acute challenge.  This could be mediated with educated and timely inputs and where the caring contract may be negotiated to preserve both dignity and quality of life. 

The premise of the adaptive response model is that armed with the knowledge of human systems and their ability to adapt and adjust, and with a firm application and emphasis on person centred approaches to dementia care, then the experience can be enhanced, and living with one of the dementias can be made less traumatic.

This holistic approach proposes a method of using environmental and social psychology to maximise function in the individual and to minimise the negative and destructive elements of the perceived and real environment.

Sections include:

• Basics of dementia
• Systems
• Stress
• Adaptation
• Coping
• Case Studies
• Problematic Behaviours
• Theories of Dementia Care.

The author, Paul T. M. Smith, is Head of Dementia Development for the 5th largest provider of care in the UK and a research fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He has developed his adaptive response approach as a result of years of 'on the ground’ experience and detailed research and collaborative work with leading academics as well as outstanding service leaders.