Embracing Touch in Dementia Care, A review of Luke Tanner's book

“With the onset of cognitive impairment, the experience of touch will increasingly determine someone's sense of relationships, their expectations of caregiving interactions and the intentions of their carers.” (p45)​

​Luke Tanner’s book comes from his recognition of “the power of touch but also the negative impact of a clinical, task-oriented culture of care” (p17) and inside this culture, he seeks to explore the question of touch in dementia care. 
Through case studies and discussion, the book explores different types of touch and how these types of touch can affect the person being cared for. Tanner discusses issues such as consent with cognitive impairment, misuse of and abusive touch, intimacy, relationships, sexuality, sensory issues, attachment disorders, types of touch, and types and effects of different care giving environments.
In his experience working in dementia care homes, Tanner has found a lack of discussion and lack of precision in policy regarding touch, but has found a general culture of prohibition of intimate touch - such as hugging - though no explicit prohibition has been made.

In this vague cultural norm, Tanner finds some types of touch are more readily acceptable than others. Massage, for instance, is “acceptable” whilst hugging or hand holding is not - even when the latter might feel more appropriate, helpful and supportive to the recipient of the touch.

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