Before Dementia: 20 Questions You Need to Ask Preventing, Preparing, Coping

Structured around 20 questions you need to ask to help prevent, prepare, and cope, this book is a friendly, authoritative guide for anyone facing dementia and those who care for them. Exploring why disease is a social construct just as much as a biological construct, it helps us understand what it means to live with or care for someone with dementia.

How do I know if I have dementia, and how will I live with it if I do? Can people with dementia consent to sex? Can they choose euthanasia for their future selves? And can we prevent or push back its onset?

Chances are you know someone with dementia, but how well do you really understand the condition? Dementia is a complex interplay of biological, social, and psychological factors, and understanding it means understanding more about society and ourselves.

Approaching the topic through 20 insightful questions, geriatrician Dr. Kate Gregorevic explains the physical state of dementia, how to relate the diagnosis to real life, what questions to ask your doctor, strategies for preventing the condition, and how we can make our homes and society better for people with dementia.

While this book tackles some uncomfortable questions, its purpose is to help--to prevent, to prepare, to cope and to understand--and provide you with strategies for moving forward.

Dr. Kate Gregorevic is a geriatrician working at a hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and the author of Staying Alive: The Science of Living Happier, Healthier and Longer. She has clinical experience looking after people in all stages of dementia and is endlessly fascinated by the ways that physical health intersects with social and emotional heath. Kate has also completed a PhD examining the impact of positive psychosocial factors on physical frailty in older adults.