Dementia and Human Rights

The time has come to further challenge biomedical and clinical thinking about dementia, which has for so long underpinned policy and practice. Framing dementia as a disability, this book takes a rights-based approach to expand the debate.

Applying a social constructionist lens, it builds on earlier critical perspectives by bringing together concepts including disability, social inclusion, personhood, equality, participation, dignity, empowerment, autonomy and solidarity. Launching the debate into new and exciting territory, the book argues that people living with dementia come within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and therefore have full entitlement to all the rights the Convention enshrines.

A human rights-based approach has not to date been fully applied to interrogate the lived experience and policy response to dementia. With the fresh analytical tools provided in this book, policy makers and practitioners will will gain new insights into how this broader perspective can be used to further promote the quality of life and quality of care for all those affected by dementia.

Suzanne Cahill has been employed as National Director of the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre based at St James’s Hospital in Ireland between 1999 and 2017. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has 30 years experience working in the field of ageing and dementia.