WINNER of the 2021 British Association for Applied Linguistics Book prize It is well recognized that when people are living with a dementia, effective communication can be a challenge for both them and those they interact with. Despite a plethora of good advice, it can be surprisingly hard to sustain constructive communicative behaviours and to integrate them successfully into routine daily care and interaction. The Dynamics of Dementia Communication asks why that is. What is it about communication, as a human social and cognitive practice, that makes it so difficult to manage the disruptions caused by dementia? Why is it so common to feel awkward, confused or irritated when talking with a person living with a dementia? Why is the experience of living with a dementia so personally and socially devastating? What approaches to communication would work best, and why? To answer these questions, the book integrates information from a wide range of different sources, covering the biological, social, and emotional factors associated with the dementia experience. New concepts and theoretical perspectives offer novel ways of thinking about the challenges of communication generally, and in the context of dementia. Topics explored include whether it is acceptable to deceive people living with a dementia and why society's failure to support people living with a dementia and their carers is so devastating. The final chapter suggests what people living with a dementia need if communication is to promote and protect everyone's well-being. By providing a deeper understanding of what topples the best-intentioned attempts at interaction, and by explaining why poor communication affects everyone involved, this book sets new agendas for improving the welfare of people living with a dementia, their families, and professional carers.

Alison Wray took her BA and D.Phil in linguistics at the University of York, UK. After completing a postdoctoral research project on singers' pronunciation in the Department of Music at York, she held a lectureship in linguistics at the then College of Ripon and York St John (now York St John University). In 1996 she was appointed Assistant Director of the Wales Applied Language Research Unit at Swansea University, and in 1999 became a Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff University. She became a (full) Professor at Cardiff in 2005 and a Research Professor in 2007. She is internationally known for her research into formulaic language, publishing two seminal books on the topic in 2002 and 2008. Since 2008 she has focussed on understanding the challenges of communication by and with people living with a dementia and has presented on this topic in countries around the world.

It is well recognized that when people are living with a dementia, effective communication can be a challenge for both them and those they interact with. Despite a plethora of good advice, it can be surprisingly hard to sustain constructive communicative behaviours and to integrate them successfully into routine daily care and interaction. The Dynamics of Dementia Communication asks why that is. What is it about communication, as a human social and cognitive practice, that makes it so difficult to manage the disruptions caused by dementia? Why is it so common to feel awkward, confused or irritated when talking with a person living with a dementia? Why is the experience of living with a dementia so personally and socially devastating? What approaches to communication would work best, and why? To answer these questions, the book integrates information from a wide range of different sources, covering the biological, social, and emotional factors associated with the dementia experience. New concepts and theoretical perspectives offer novel ways of thinking about the challenges of communication generally, and in the context of dementia. Topics explored include whether it is acceptable to deceive people living with a dementia and why society's failure to support people living with a dementia and their carers is so devastating. The final chapter suggests what people living with a dementia need if communication is to promote and protect everyone's well-being. By providing a deeper understanding of what topples the best-intentioned attempts at interaction, and by explaining why poor communication affects everyone involved, this book sets new agendas for improving the welfare of people living with a dementia, their families, and professional carers.

FOREWORD Should You Read This Book? Summary of the Main Ideas in the Book Is This Book for You? How the Book Came About PART ONE: CONTEXTS SHAPING COMMUNICATION CHAPTER ONE: THE CHALLENGES OF COMMUNICATION IN THE DEMENTIA CONTEXT 1.1 Why Is It Difficult to Sustain Effective Communication Practices in Dementia Interaction? 1.2 Overview of the Book 1.3 Key Concepts 1.3.1 Defining 'Dementia' 1.3.2 Defining 'Communication' 1.4 Core Orientations 1.4.1 Personhood 1.4.2 Recognising the Role of Ego 1.5 Concluding Remarks CHAPTER TWO: THE BIOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF DEMENTIA COMMUNICATION 2.1 How Do the Brain Changes Associated with Diseases of Dementia Affect Communication? 2.2 Exploring the Language of People with Alzheimer's Disease 2.2.1 Overview of Alzheimer's Disease 2.2.2 The Impact of Alzheimer's Disease on Language 2.2.3 The Impact of Alzheimer's Disease on Pragmatic Capabilities 2.2.4 Language as a Marker of Future Alzheimer's Disease 2.3 Language and Communication in Fronto-temporal Lobar Degeneration 2.3.1 Overview of Fronto-temporal Lobar Degeneration 2.3.2 The Impact of Semantic Dementia on Communication 2.4 The Impact on Language and Communication of Other Dementias 2.5 Pinning Down 'Dementia Communication' 2.6 Variation in Susceptibility to Diseases of Dementia and Their Symptoms 2.6.1 Why Do the Brain Changes Affect People and Their Communication Differently? 2.6.2 Genetic Disposition to Diseases Causing Dementia 2.6.3 Environmental Factors 2.6.4 'Rementia' and Temporary Lucidity 2.6.5 Brain and Cognitive Reserve 2.7 Concluding Remarks CHAPTER THREE: THE ROLE OF MEMORY IN COMMUNICATION 3.1 What Constraints on Communication are Imposed by Memory Deficits in Dementia? 3.2 Long-Term Memory 3.2.1 Declarative Memory 3.2.2 Implicit Memory 3.2.3 Emotional Memory 3.3 Short-Term and Working Memory 3.4 How We Bring Information Back to Mind 3.5 Memory Changes in Normal Aging and in Dementia 3.6 The Impact of Memory Impairment on Communication 3.7 A Deeper Look at Episodic Memory and Communication 3.7.1 Episodic Memory and Autonoetic Experience 3.7.2 The Unreliability of Episodic Memory 3.7.3 The Impact of Losing Reliable Episodic Memory 3.8 Concluding Remarks CHAPTER FOUR: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DEMENTIA 4.1 How Do Social Attitudes and Contexts Shape How We Interact with People Living with a Dementia? 4.2 Social and Emotional Factors Exacerbating Dementia Symptoms 4.3 The Construction of Dementia as a Disease 4.3.1 The Medicalization of Age-related Degenerative Diseases 4.3.2 The Commodification of Dementia Research 4.3.3 Defining People by Test Results 4.3.4 Mild Cognitive Impairment and the Boundary with 'Normal Functioning' 4.3.5 How People Living with a Dementia are Treated 4.4 Dementia as a Social Burden 4.4.1 Western Attitudes to Dementia and Care 4.4.2 Alternative Perceptions of Dementia 4.5 The Protection Afforded by 'Social Reserve' 4.5.1 What is Social Reserve? 4.5.2 Social Reserve and Social Capital 4.6 Concluding Remarks CHAPTER FIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF DEMENTIA COMMUNICATION 5.1 How Do Constraints on Communication Shape the Experiences of People Living with a Dementia and Their Carers? 5.2 Communicating When You Have a Dementia 5.2.1 Communicating the Dementia Experience 5.2.2 What People Living with a Dementia Say They Need 5.3 How Family and Professional Care…