Critical debate 36.1

Possible answer to: Is the philosophy of recovery relevant to dementia care?

A theme underpinning this book is that of recovery as a goal of mental health nursing care. But can the concept of recovery be applied to people with dementia? Given that dementia is a progressive and terminal condition, surely there is no possibility of recovery?

While people with dementia do not recover in the medical sense, some authors have suggested that a recovery philosophy is helpful for nursing care. Kitwood (1997) talked of rementing, holding that if people with dementia are respected and cared for well, they may recover some of their social and daily living abilities. More recently, Adams (2010) and Gavan (2011) have promoted the value of recovery as an underpinning element of dementia care, believing that recovery-based concepts such as the promotion of wellbeing, autonomy, social inclusion and hope that the person can continue to live a fulfilling life are all relevant to people with dementia. Both authors, however, acknowledge that in advanced dementia, recovery may not be so meaningful and that a palliative care approach may be more appropriate (Hughes et al., 2004).