Abstract
Reviewed by: Michaela S. Reardon, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
With more individuals reaching ages at or above 65, dementia will become more prevalent in the coming years (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). One difficulty associated with dementia is that individuals often become disengaged from their environment. In their book, Staying in Life: Paving the Way to Dementia-Friendly Communities, authors Verena Rothe, Gabriele Kreutzner, and Reimer Gronemeyer discuss some of the problems associated with dementia in our society and outline blueprints for developing more dementia friendly communities.
In the preface, the authors present their main focus on the consideration for the social facet of dementia. The vision for dementia friendly communities, where individuals with dementia interact with the rest of the public regularly, can be seen throughout their text. This vision is established through the authors’ use of anecdotes describing people they have come in contact with as well as through the creative methods used to launch some of these initiatives by leaders in different social realms.
The authors give a detailed account of the major topics that are often discussed when attempting to improve the connectedness of persons with dementia to the rest of society, such as friends and family, medical care, and even the media; they also offer ways to improve the effectiveness of initiatives started within a community. Original examples of efforts by local government officials and communities are discussed in a clear and engaging manner. The writing is an excellent addition to other reading in the area of dementia and active engagement with society.
While this was a great supplemental book in this area, one should not limit themselves to this book alone because it is incomplete in terms of incorporating research. The authors discussed the Alzheimer’s Association briefly and mentioned some other reputable individuals as well as programs; however, while it was thorough in application, it lacked empirical research supporting the authors’ claims. Some work I expected to see cited in this text was general information regarding main components of aging, such as the model of successful aging by Rowe and Kahn (1997, 2015). Rowe and Kahn describe the importance of maintaining engagement with life as we age; this would have been supportive in making the case for the necessity of more dementia friendly communities. Another scholar whose work I expected to see was Cameron Camp (e.g., Judge, Camp, & Orsulic-Jeras, 2000). Camp has completed a great deal of research on engagement of individuals with dementia. This research has looked at ways to increase active engagement and would have supplemented the methods that Rothe, Kreutzner, and Gronemeyer detailed in the text. In addition, given that this book discussed topics relating to social aspects of aging, I expected to see research cited from prominent researchers in the field such as Laura Carstensen (e.g., Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1993). All of these scholars focus heavily on aging and well-being, but the authors failed to state how previous research findings have informed their vision for future communities.
Although the book lacks empirical references, it nonetheless introduces many creative ways to foster the involvement of individuals with dementia in the community and takes into account many of the adversities associated with this type of commitment in each domain of the social sphere (e.g., medical, government, family). Perhaps most importantly, it delivers an inspirational hope that one day individuals with dementia will not just live alongside the rest of society but interact with and become a part of their communities.