Rehabilitation for people with dementia

Last Updated: March 27, 2026

Beth Britton explores rehabilitation for people with dementia – What it is and how can it help?

For those of us who have long championed rehabilitation for people with dementia, this year’s World Alzheimer’s Report ‘Reimagining life with dementia – The power of rehabilitation’, released as part of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)’s World Alzheimer’s Month, is very welcome. It at last puts rehabilitation firmly on the agenda for people living with dementia worldwide, examining how rehabilitation is defined and implemented, showcasing good practice examples and exploring practical considerations to adapt rehabilitation practices to meet diverse needs.

Paola Barbarino, Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer’s Disease International, says in the report:

“After talking with people living with dementia, carers, and healthcare professionals in many countries, it has been clear that the benefits of rehabilitation remain largely unknown and unimplemented when it comes to dementia. This is in large part due to a lack of awareness and understanding about what rehabilitation might look like for people living with dementia.

There are many kinds of rehabilitation, including physical (the most commonly recognisable), cognitive, spatial, visual rehabilitation, and so on. The key to effective dementia rehabilitation, no matter with which condition someone has been diagnosed, is for the intervention to be tailor-made to individual requirements and circumstances. This person-centred precision approach yields better chances of effectiveness, as described across the essays in this report, allowing people living with dementia to maintain their functional abilities and independence and remain in their home for longer – factors that undoubtedly have an impact on private and public care costs.”

Report co-authors, Professor Linda Clare and Professor Yun-Hee Jeon, say:

“We often think and talk about dementia in terms of decline, impairment, and loss, but what if
we focused instead on what people with dementia can still do? People with dementia can still learn new information and skills and adapt their activities if they have the right support as part of their rehabilitation plan.”

My view on rehabilitation

With limited drug therapies for dementia, non-drug approaches are vital to help people live as well as possible with their dementia. Rehabilitation has long been offered to people who are diagnosed with other conditions within the NHS – stroke survivors for example – and is part of standardised care. Key to rehabilitation is to maximise independence and the person’s own abilities to help them to remain well and in their own home – why would we not want to encourage and support this for people with dementia to help them to have the best quality of life and reduce the impact of caring on those closest to them?

‘My life, my goals’ cognitive rehabilitation resource

Since I first encountered Innovations in Dementia ‘My Life, My Goals’ resource when it was published in 2021 I’ve loved it. It’s co-produced, practical, freely available and easily usable by both a person with dementia and those who are supporting them, be they family members or professionals.

In my learning disability work, goal setting is part of regular support for younger adults, and as the World Alzheimer Report tells us, there is no doubt that people living with dementia of all ages can benefit from it too. This was highlighted at a roundtable I participated in last year for Painchek where Chris Norris, a gentleman with dementia who worked on the ‘My Life, My Goals’ resource, contributed to the discussions.

But don’t just take my word for it. I spoke to Jackie Pool to get her thoughts on rehabilitation for people with dementia.

An expert view on rehabilitation for people with dementia

Jackie Pool is a retired Occupational Therapist who remains active as a dementia care specialist campaigning for the disability rights of people living with dementia. She is co-investigator in the GREAT Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme with the University of Exeter, Research into Ageing and Cognitive Health (REACH). Jackie is also the developer of the reliable and valid PAL Instrument, author of the book ‘From Dementia to Rementia’ and a speaker at international dementia conferences.

Jackie, what is rehabilitation for people with dementia and why have you championed it for so long?

“Rehabilitation for people with dementia is no different really from rehabilitation for people living with any other condition. Broadly speaking, it is the process of restoring a person’s abilities that have been lost. In the case of dementia, the cause of this loss is the condition, such as Alzheimer’s disease or vascular disease, that has resulted in damage to areas of cognitive function.

I think that people living with dementia are often not recognised as still having abilities and there is a widespread belief that they cannot learn new ways of doing things. But this is incorrect – with the right support people can learn to get around the cognitive impairment in order to continue independently for longer.

When I first started working in dementia care, over 40 years ago, I was shocked at how people were ‘bypassed’ and I was determined to improve matters for those individuals and the many more in similar situations. I get frustrated when I see how people struggle despite the potential of rehabilitation and I am very hopeful that the World Alzheimer’s Report will help to change this.”

What are the practical ways rehabilitation can help when you are living with dementia?

“You can use compensatory techniques of rehabilitation which “fill in” for lost cognitive function. For example, using signage to help with way-finding or a calendar to remind about appointments. But more than that, you can use restorative techniques to learn new ways of doing things. These can be activities, such as finding your way to the shops or even within a large building such as a care home; cooking and baking; gardening; using technology; taking medication – really any activity that is important to the individual. But also the restoration might be information based such as remembering names of friends and family or, recalling what you have done that day in order to recount it later. This is very important to some people in helping them to feel more confident in social situations and can impact on their ability to go out and participate in social situations.”

If you’ve been diagnosed with dementia, when is the best time to begin rehabilitation and how would you get started?

“The best time is as soon as the cognitive impairments are starting to impact on the way you do things. Often this is at the point of diagnosis as it is the noticing of the difficulties that lead many people to their doctor. However, with the new early diagnostic techniques, some might well get a diagnosis before there are any outward signs. Whilst it would be helpful to be informed that rehabilitation will be useful at the point when function is affected, rehabilitation will not be appropriate just then.

Ideally, you would be offered cognitive rehabilitation or occupational therapy at your diagnosis but many are not and you might need to ask for a referral. If your doctor is unaware, you might need to educate them!”

What role can a person’s family/care partner take in their rehabilitation?

“Your care partner can be a great support. The cognitive rehabilitation (CR) programme usually has one session per week, for about 6 weeks, from the trained CR Practitioner and you will need to do ‘homework’ in between sessions in order to embed the new learning through practice and repetition. Your care partner can get involved, providing you with the prompts and fading prompts that the Practitioner will have planned and shared with you both.”

Can rehabilitation techniques benefit a person at any stage of their dementia?

“In our studies, we found that people with slight to moderate difficulties can benefit; it just requires a different rehabilitation technique depending on the abilities that the person has maintained. The Cognitive Rehabilitation Practitioner will support you with your Goal setting and work with you to break this down into achievable stages; finding the right techniques for you. As the symptoms of dementia progress, care partners may get more involved in this goal setting and planning.

I believe that a rehabilitation model benefits everyone, at all stages but that the Goal becomes more about social and emotional connections – so more ‘being’ and less ‘doing’ as the later stages are reached.”

Do you have any other tips or advice on rehabilitation for people with dementia?

“Because the causes of dementia are mainly progressive, it is important to notice when the rehabilitation attainments are no longer working and be prepared to reach out again for a reassessment and a new rehabilitation programme that addresses the current difficulties and draws on the remaining abilities. View the rehabilitation programme as a journey rather than as a ‘one-off’.

If you cannot get a referral or find a local cognitive rehabilitation practitioner, try contacting neurorehabilitation services. Historically, they have not treated people with dementia but are now beginning to realise that they could.

If you cannot find a practitioner at all, do use the ‘My Life, My Goals’ resource that Beth has provided the link to. It is a good self-help tool based on our research findings. And, if it is not too cheeky, I would also recommend my ‘From Dementia to Rementia’ book which will guide you for cognitive rehabilitation and also for optimum brain health to benefit from the approach.”

Many thanks for your time and expertise Jackie.