Edited by Bere Miesen and Gemma Jones

Routledge

£50 (hardback) £19.99 (paperback)

ISBN 0415 138442 (hardback)0415 138450 (paperback)

This is the second volume edited by Miesen and Jones on dementia care. In a book of 21 chapters, some are inevitably better than others.

The chapters on informal care, written from a Dutch perspective, do not add much to the UK literature and lack contextual understanding of the changes in UK legislation with regard to carers. It is also disappointing that while there are two chapters devoted to cultural difference, this is mentioned only in relation to ethnicity, while other cultural influences receive little, if any mention outside these chapters.

On a positive note, Kitwood's chapter on 'personhood' provides a message to be heard by all providers of care, wherever and with whomever they work. Mills demonstrates the importance of maintaining personal narratives and responding to the emotional content of memories.

Van der Plaat's chapter on the concept of homeostasis in dementia care includes the pertinent point that the person with dementia needs to learn how to manage the experience of dementia. Werner's discussion of ethical issues provides a useful theoretical and practical contribution.

The theme of the importance of the person permeates the book and thus, to me, the terms 'demented elderly', 'demented patient', 'sufferer' and 'victim' struck a discordant note, notwithstanding the editors' explanation that they will 'make do with these' terms until something more satisfactory can be found.

Surely, if we are to promote inclusion, language has to avoid categorising people as 'sufferers' or 'victims', or giving precedence to the diagnosis - demented - over the person.

All in all, this is a book to consult, rather than a core text.

Cherry Rowlings is professor of social work, University of Stirling.