The new culture of dementia care

Abstract

In this chapter we look at two factors that underpin the ‘old’ culture of dementia care: the stigma of mental illness, with its deep historical roots, and the prevalence of task-centred care. We then describe the ‘new’ culture of dementia care. Kitwood was the first person to write about the changes between what he describes as the old and new cultures and we refer to his work in some detail. The second half of the chapter introduces the social and citizenship models of dementia care. In Chapter Two, we introduce the medical model. As you will see, we believe that although social work is primarily about the social model, social workers need to understand all three in order to provide the best dementia care.