What We Talk About When We Talk About Dementia

Imagine yourself living with dementia. Or imagine yourself as a caregiver for a family member with dementia. What would your life be like? What do you hope and fear? Do you think that it should be different – but struggle to describe what would make your life better?

One of the facts about aging societies such as the United States and other wealthy, technologically advanced nations is that millions of people are facing dementia. Whether a person is living with symptoms  or is a family caregiver, dementia is part of the complex story of longer lives and smaller families that are the ingredients of the global demographic shift toward population aging.

There is no way to edit out the social presence of dementia. Dementia is often a deeply feared aspect of longer lives – research shows that dementia care makes immense, disproportionate claims on the lives, time, and finances of families compared to other aging-associated, ultimately terminal conditions. The personal and financial costs of dementia care could be reduced through greater public investment in health and social care. But would better services and programs reduce the apprehension