Indigenous Peoples and Dementia: New Understandings of Memory Loss and Memory Care

Dementia is on the rise around the world, and health organizations the United States, Canada, and New Zealand are responding to the urgent need - voiced by communities and practitioners - for guidance on how best to address memory loss in Indigenous communities. This innovative volume responds to the call by bringing together, for the first time, studies and traditional stories that address three key areas of concern: prevalence, causes, and public discourse; Indigenous perspectives on care and prevention; and culturally safe application of research to Elder care. Collectively, the contributors demonstrate that care must be grounded in collaborative research informed by Indigenous knowledge and worldviews.

Wendy Hulko is associate professor and the Bachelor of Social Work program coordinator in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Thompson Rivers University. Danielle Wilson is the regional director for the Owen Sound/Grey-Bruce region of the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre. Jean E. Balestrery is a licensed independent practitioner and was formerly an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Northern Arizona University.