Dementia: a disability and a human rights concern

Abstract

The biomedical model has traditionally informed the dominant discourse on dementia and has significantly shaped practitioners’, policy makers’ and researchers’ responses. This model contextualizes dementia as a progressive neuro-degenerative cognitive disorder and focuses on deficits and the underlying pathology often overlooking the fact that the person can and should be an active partner in the treatment process and with the right supports can live well. Beginning in the late 1990s, the exclusive reliance on the bio-medical model has come under increasing scrutiny with a growing awareness that by recasting dementia in broader more humanitarian terms, much can be done to promote the individual’s dignity and quality of life. Different frameworks and analytical tools have been forwarded to help us better understand and respond to the challenge of dementia. These include personhood, citizenship, public health, disability and human rights. This chapter examines the merits of framing dementia as a disability and of applying a human rights lens to help enhance practice, inform policy and create a more balanced research agenda