Changing the Culture of Social Work Support for People with Early Dementia

Earlier identification of dementia is a policy goal in England, as well as in other developed countries, with implications for social workers and their practice with older people. This policy and practice review draws on English experiences and debates to explore awareness of dementia and the responses of social workers to concerns about dementia among older people. It points to the need for a change in culture of social work services, shifting responses from a focus solely on people with dementia whose disabilities are severe to new areas of practice with people who have only been recently informed of their diagnosis. Such a fresh approach to practice will require social workers to consider different needs along the course of the dementia syndrome. In England, practice with people with dementia will also change if the role of social work becomes more specialised. Developing social work's contribution to the support of people with dementia in its early stages will have to take into account the possible division of social work activity, as practitioners with specialist skills or as practitioners with more generic skills and guides to care services.