The 'D' Word starts with the premise that Dementia is here to stay - a simple cure is not going to be found that will make it a condition of the past. As such it is a social problem, not a medical one. We have to learn to live with Dementia and, as it will affect nearly all of us either as carers or through eventually having the condition, become our own experts rather than relying on the inadequate response from medicine. The authors, based on their long experience of working together to support people affected by dementia, show us how to understand the biological reality of dementia (the brain is wasting away and no amount of memory medicine can restore what is gone); readjust our thinking about the condition so that we can accept rather than fear it; and gain the expertise to manage the problems we have now.
