Decision-Making, Personhood and Dementia

Deborah O'Connor received a Ph.D in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada in 1997. She is the founding Director of the Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia (CRPD) and an associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She has worked in the field of dementia as a health professional and researcher for over 25 years. Barbara Purves received a Ph.D in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2006 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her current research is grounded in over 25 years of clinical experience as a speech-language pathologist working with people with acquired communication disorders, including dementia.

• Acknowledgements. Introduction: 1. Decision-making, Personhood and Dementia:Mapping the Terrain. Deborah O'Connor and Barbara Purves. Part I: Conceptualizing the Issues. 2. Narrative and Decision-making. Clive Baldwin, Bradford Dementia Group, UK. 3. Decision-making as Social Practice. Andre Smith, University of Victoria, British Colombia, Canada. 4. Hunting Good Will in the Wilderness. MaryLou Harrigan, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada, and Grant Gillett, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand. 5. A Confucian Two-dimensional Approach to Personhood, Dementia and Decision-making. Daniel Fu-Chang Tsai, National Taiwan University, Taiwan. 6. Cultural safety, Decision-making and Dementia: Troubling Notions of Autonomy and Personhood. Wendy Hulko and Louise Stern, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada. Part II: Policy and Practice Issues. 7. Decisions, Decisions: Linking Personalisation to Person-centred Care. Jill Manthorpe, Kings College, London, UK. 8. Confronting the Challenges of Assessing Capacity: Dementia in the Context of Abuse. Deborah O'Connor and Martha Donnelly, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada. 9. Capacity, Vulnerability, Risk and Consent: Personhood in the Law. Margaret Isabel Hall, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada. 10. Personhood, Financial Decision-making and Dementia: An Australian Perspective. Cheryl Tilse, Jill Wilson and Deborah Setterlund, University of Queensland, Australia. Part III: Understanding at the Everyday Level. 11. Narrative and Decision-making. John Keady, Manchester, UK, Sion Williams, University of Wales, Bangor, UK and John-Hughes Roberts, Glan Traeth Day Hospital, Wales, UK. 12. Personhood, Dementia and the Use of Formal Support Services: Exploring the Decision-making Process. Deborah O'Connor and Elizabeth Kelson, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada. 13. Families, Dementia and Decisions. Barbara Purves and JoAnn Perry, University of British Colmbia, Canada. 14. The Communicative Capacity of the Body and Clinical Decision-making in Dementia Care. Pia C.Kontos and Gary Naglie, University of Toronto, Canada. 15. Conclusion. Decision-making and Dementia: Toward a Social Model of Understanding. Deborah O'Connor, Barbara Purves and Murna Downs, Bradford Dementia Group, UK. Contributors. Index.

This book is vital reading for all health and social care professionals who work with people with dementia. I have already made it recommended reading for Best Interest Assessors training on the module that I teach at the University of the West of England. Professionals and academics who work with adults with conditions, other than dementia, that affect capacity need to conduct comparable work to ensure that similar evidence for the maximising of opportunities to decide can be promoted.