This book is the first edited collection to focus on dementia in remote and rural areas. Drawing on examples of research studies and innovative practice from remote and rural locations globally, it highlights the implications of living with dementia in remote and rural areas for dementia policy, practice and future research. The chapters represent countries with considerable experience and expertise in developing support and services for their rural and remote populations, such as Canada, Australia, the UK, Ireland and Austria. However, many other countries have rural geographies and ageing populations, and are likely to face similar challenges of meeting the needs of people living with dementia in remote and rural areas. To promote knowledge translation, the book's contributors share ideas from their countries to help practitioners working in challenging geographical landscapes anywhere as they strive to provide the highest standards of support for those living with dementia. The book draws on research conducted in different countries with longstanding histories of conducting remote and rural dementia research, and as such it is a resource for academics who teach or research rurality and dementia. The edited structure allows international examples of innovative research/practice in the remote and rural dementia field to be showcased with the implications of such national examples to be considered in relation to research, policy and practice globally. In this way, we hope that you, the reader, will find this edited collection to be a resource, whether you are a student, practitioner, policy influencer or academic, to assist you in enhancing the experience of living with dementia in remote and rural areas in the future.

Dementia has been defined by the World Health Organization as:

Although the symptoms of dementia may be similar, how these are experienced and the impact on individuals’ lives can vary significantly. The experience of dementia is one that is fraught with challenges for the person diagnosed with dementia, and for families, friends and communities. It may require coming to terms with new identity and functionality and may require significant adaptation and resilience at individual, family and community levels (Innes et al, 2011).