‘We do things together’

The value of the single case study is well established in dementia care with the seminal contributions of Alzheimer and Kitwood being based on the study of individuals. This article presents a case study of an elderly married couple living with dementia and explores how their relationship has continued to flourish. In drawing on their story we highlight ways in which both partners seek to ‘maintain involvement’ of the person with dementia (PWD) (Keady, 1999), and consider the various types of ‘work’ that is required. We suggest that whilst the ‘personhood’ of the PWD as an individual has received much recent attention, a consideration of ‘couplehood’ is also essential to a full understanding of how spouses live with and respond to the impact of dementia.

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