Dementia and Society

Dementia is increasingly being recognised as a public health priority and poses one of the largest challenges we face as a society. At the same time, there is a growing awareness that the quest for a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia needs to be complemented by efforts to improve the lives of people with dementia. To gain a better understanding of dementia and of how to organize dementia care, there is a need to bring together insights from many different disciplines. Filling this knowledge gap, this book provides an integrated view on dementia resulting from extensive discussions between world experts from different fields, including medicine, social psychology, nursing, economics and literary studies. Working towards a development of integrative policies focused on social inclusion and quality of life, Dementia and Society reminds the reader that a better future for persons with dementia is a collective responsibility.

Mathieu Vandenbulcke is Chair of the Geriatric Psychiatry Department of the University Hospitals Leuven, Full Professor at the department of neurosciences and Director of the KU Leuven Brain Institute. Rose-Marie Dröes is professor of psychosocial care for people with dementia and head of the research group 'Care and support in dementia' at the department of Psychiatry of Amsterdam UMC, location VU University medical center. She is also Chair of the worldwide MeetingDem Network, which promotes knowledge exchange on effective post-diagnostic care and support for community-dwelling people with dementia and their carers via Meeting Centres. Erik Schokkaert is Professor Emeritus of Welfare and Health Economics at the KULeuven. In the past ten years he chaired the interdisciplinary think tank “Metaforum”. He is a former Research Director of CORE (Université catholique de Louvain) and has been Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics.