New book on dementia seeks to fill the gap of introductory care practice

Amy Pepper, Dementia Care Manager at Britain’s largest adult social care provider HC-One, recently co-authored a new book to support professional carers starting out on their dementia care journey.

Written by Amy and her former colleagues at Dementia UK, Dr Karen Harrison Dening and Dr Emma Wolverson, ‘Dementia: An introduction for nursing, health and social care’ is a textbook which aims to support the quality of care provided to people with dementia. The book was published by Lantern Publishing on October 14, 2024.

Amy, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, believes that there was not an introductory text on dementia, and there are only few texts in this space. The book acts as a “reference guide” to support professional carers with the information they need to start caring well for people and reflects on some issues that arise in dementia care.

Amy and her co-authors intend for this book to be used by health and care students in their courses and then in starting their first job in dementia care to become more rounded practitioners.

The book aligns with HC-One’s mantra of caring with kindness – a belief that caring for people means focusing on what matters most to someone, taking time to get to know each person individually to ensure they can have the best quality of life. It is a place where actions and choices are guided by a heartfelt desire to support people to make the most of each moment, every day.

Caring with kindness is how members of staff show up for the people living in HC-One care homes, and each other. It enables staff to support people to lead their best lives even as their circumstances and conditions change.

Amy Pepper, Dementia Care Manager at HC-One, stated: “Person-centred care is what we strive to deliver at HC-One. it is such an important part of dementia care and it’s an overarching theme that we need an understanding of before we start caring for people.

“It’s quite easy to feel adrift when you are first starting out, and to not know the answers to many questions. Our five C’s model supports our colleagues to be curious, compassionate, creative, courageous and counted on - and this book reflects those values by supporting informed and reflective practice."

Amy added that a common issue in dementia is knowing your residents you are caring for, as it is vital to recognise that each person is an individual. Carers should identify information about who that person was before the dementia, what is important to them and what has happened in their life.

Dr Karen Harrison Dening, Head of Research & Publications at Dementia UK, said: “The Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline and Admiral Nurses working in the field are often asked for information and advice on many aspects of best practice in dementia care. The co-authors of this book wanted to provide some of this information in a concise and easy to access format.

“The book will be of value to any health and care student and guide their learning on dementia care. It will also be of value to many generalist health and care professionals in their early years post qualifying.”

All information identified about residents is subsequently used to inform all the care which HC-One provides across more than 275 homes. If you are interested in reading ‘Dementia: An introduction for nursing, health and social care’, please visit Lantern Publishing’s website.