There can sometimes be a perception that people with dementia are no longer able to take part in reading activities, but this is far from the case. In the early stages of dementia, many people continue to read by themselves and, even in the later stages, there are ways of making reading more accessible to people who no longer find it easy to read alone. Crucially, dementia can be an opportunity to expand what we mean when we talk about ‘reading materials’ or ‘texts’. The basic definition of reading is the decoding of symbols to derive meaning. This means that reading materials can include not simply wordbased materials, but also resources that we can ‘read’ in other ways and with other senses. This might include images and objects, movements and gestures or sounds and music that people with dementia may be able to make connections with.

This chapter starts with a caveat: reading is often suggested as a potentially beneficial activity for people with dementia and there are claims that it may lead to positive changes such as decreased agitation, reduced anxiety and depression and improved cognitive skills. However, robust research into literature interventions for people with dementia is currently limited, especially when compared to other arts and cultural interventions, such as music therapy. The research that does exist is often conflicting and indicates that any links between reading and possible ‘improvements’ in, or prevention of, dementia are complex and uncertain. To give just one example that illustrates some of these complexities, a study carried out in Japan found evidence that reading newspapers played a significant role in the decline of dementia symptoms, but oddly there was no similar change observed for reading books (Kim et al., 2016).

Research into the impacts of reading activities for people with dementia is at present limited and often contradictory.