The Journal’s 10 year Anniversary - Looking back and moving forward

This issue marks the 10th year of the Journal, whose guiding mission has been, ‘‘To provide a major international forum for social-behavioral research and practice that has direct relevance on improving the quality of life (QOL) and quality of care for people with dementia and their families’’ (Keady & Harris, 2002). For where the main focus of biomedical research has been on the cause of dementia, the focus of social–behavioral research is on the consequences of living with dementia. On a daily basis, persons with dementia and their family members must face alone and together this ‘‘lived experience,’’ with its ever constant changes, surprises, challenges, disappointments, and sometimes rewards; and most of all they must learn to cope. Social–behavioral research can help. Pearlin et al. (2001) identified five research domains essential for future social research on the consequences of dementia: 1) the person with dementia, 2) the family and household, 3) the physical and social environment, 4) effective services and interventions, and 5) directions for health policy. This schematic was presented as a heuristic device to stimulate thinking about future research. Over the years, this Journal has played an important role in publishing articles that further deepened our understanding in all five recommended research areas. Reviewing the Journal’s last 10 years of publications, below are just a few examples of articles that reflect research in each of the domains. Articles in the Journal have increased our understanding of the ‘‘inner worlds’’ of both the person with dementia and their care partner. Articles that explored ‘‘the inner world’’ of people with dementia were ones such as: 1) the very first paper published by the Journal, Sterin’s (2002) eloquent personal essay on how being diagnosed with dementia and the stigma that entailed, forever changed one’s social interactions and self-concept; Krause’s and Moyer’s (2006) discussion on how her diagnosis spurred them into becoming advocates for people with AD, and the meaning such work has brought to their lives; and Fazio’s and Mitchell’s study (2009), which demonstrated through evidence from remaining language and visual recognition that the self of the person with Alzheimer’s disease persists along the journey, expanding the work of Steven Sabat (2001). Each article and many others deepened our understanding of the lived experience. A few notable articles about the ‘‘inner world’’ of carer experience were: 1) Weyl’s (2009) description of her journey with her husband Peter diagnosed with AD, as she loves and cares for him, and copes, recorded in a memoir, entitled, ‘‘Love song at the end of the day’’; 2) Aubeeluck’s and Buchanan’s (2006) article that captured the Huntington’s disease spousal carer experience, a group that is often forgotten, using the methodology of photovoice. This study visually presented the carers’ quality of life, encompassing loss, loneliness, neglected needs and desire for escape; and 3) one of the most unique articles published over the years, Dementia 10(1) 3–6 ! The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1471301211401685 dem.sagepub.com