D. Grant Campbell
Surviving Dementia Care:
The Realities of Caregiving
Surviving Dementia Care is a compassionate and insightful guide for anyone navigating the challenging journey of caring for a loved one with dementia. Drawing on research from information studies, literary studies, and interviews with family caregivers, this book reimagines dementia care – not as a set of skills to master, but as a deeply human experience to endure and understand.
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To make sense of the copious information on dementia, the book introduces four distinct modes of understanding dementia care, each offering a unique perspective and source of strength. The Describing mode helps caregivers grasp the medical realities of dementia. The Understanding mode addresses the shifting landscape of communication as cognitive abilities change. The Advocating mode guides readers through the complexities and anxieties of securing proper care within an often-confusing health care system. Finally, the Imagining mode reveals how creativity can foster moments of joy and connection, even in the midst of loss.
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By filtering the vast array of information on dementia through these practical and empathetic modes, Surviving Dementia Care empowers caregivers to find the guidance they need at each stage of the journey, avoid information overload, and preserve the loving bonds that inspired their caregiving in the first place.
Meet the Author
D. Grant Campbell is a Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. He grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and holds a PhD in English Literature from Queen’s University and a Master of Information Studies from the University of Toronto. A violinist for over 50 years, he has played in numerous community orchestras, and has also conducted music sessions in various dementia settings in Toronto and London.
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Grant’s research career began with the study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-English fiction, and then moved into information studies, where he has presented research in knowledge organization and the Semantic Web in Canada, the United States, Europe and Brazil. After both his parents were diagnosed with dementia, he shifted his research into the service of families who are dealing with similar challenges. Surviving Dementia Care is the product of an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Events
Critical Reception &
Reader Perspectives
"Whenever a family member of someone with an illness puts thought to paper in a sincere desire to help future caregivers, it is like shining a light in the darkness. We can all learn from those who walk the path ahead of us – sparing us some of the confusion and guilt of the learning process."
Avis Favaro, Health Journalist, Contributor, CTV National News, and Podcast Host, Canadian Institute for Health Information
“Campbell makes a major contribution by taking us beyond his personal experience of caring for parents with dementia by unexpectedly pulling from the world of literature and information management to navigate the overwhelming world of dementia care. His approach never denies the reality of the task but with a clear-eyed perspective validates a caregiver's chaotic experience and brings to it more coherence, validation, and tolerance, ultimately helping anyone deal with dementia with more equanimity.”
Jonathan Hunter, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and Pencer Chair in Applied General Psychiatry, Sinai Health System
“Surviving Dementia Care offers a real and honest discussion of dementia care – led by someone who has experienced it. The author’s own experience with dementia care builds ethos, and it is a strength of this brave work. Sincere, informed, grounded, and inviting, the experience of reading often feels like a conversation.”
Tracy Moniz, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Mount Saint Vincent University
“Surviving Dementia Care tackles an extremely important topic area in a novel manner, enabling readers to come to the issues in a new and effective way. We have here a librarian using his specialism to look for order in the chaos that is dementia caring, and it works. It was a genuine pleasure to read, and I learnt a lot.”
Alison Wray, author of award-winning The Dynamics of Dementia Communication
Connect with Grant
General Inquiries
dgrantcampbell55@gmail.com
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada