The book looks at the contribution of occupational therapy to the care of dementing people. It is the story of a search. In the eight years that this story has been in the making, various paths have been explored and the general direction decided. Most of the paths have been explored by others and the author has used their experiences. Within the book the author has related her quests, why they were undertaken, what happened en route and how those experiences, in turn, determined what happened next.

This book is unique in drawing together the historical and present-day perspectives on the use of activity with dementing people. Illustrations of differing types of approaches, activities used with moderately to severely dementing persons and evaluations of their effectiveness are given. The search is not finished; much more needs to be known about what is helpful and why.