The Contented Dementia Trust has produced a variety of written and audio-visual material about the SPECAL method.  Key resources are listed below. Copies may be obtained by contacting us at info@contenteddementiatrust.org. The charges cover our printing / photocopying costs plus postage & packing. We will email you an invoice which has our BACS details to enable you to make  a secure online payment. 

Key SPECAL Videos & texts:

1. DVD Finding a way to Contented Dementia  by Kate Sturgess and Alistair Briggs

A documentary film in six parts which follows the story of six ‘accidental carers’ who found themselves looking after loved ones who had developed dementia: their fears and struggles to come to terms with the situation and how finding the SPECAL method, through Contented Dementia Trust, had an incredibly positive effect; not just on the lives of those they cared for, but on theirs too…

Run time 92 minutes; available in PAL.

DVD cost £14.05 including p&p within U.K; Europe: £16.48; Australia and Singapore: £17.83; Rest of World: £17.53                                                        

Payment options

2.  The SPECAL© Photograph Album

Garner, P (2008, 3rd Edition) The SPECAL Photograph Album.  Windrush Hill Books. Hawling.

This report provides an explanation of what dementia might be like to live with, day by day, for the person with dementia.  It uses the analogy of a photograph album to represent how memory functions.  This explanation underpins all SPECAL care principles, which are now known as ‘SPECAL sense’.   The SPECAL Photograph Album is central to the development of the SPECAL method, a comprehensive system which incorporates a number of therapeutic approaches to enable well-being to be sustained on a lifelong basis.  
Prices below include postage and packing within UK: £6.50; Europe: £8.95; Australia and Singapore: £10.30; Rest of World: £9.98                


Price inclusive of postage

3.  Making a Present of the Past®

This historic document explains how the approach of linking past experience to activities of daily life in the present was first developed in practice.  Examples are drawn from documented case studies at Burford Community Hospital during the early 1990’s.  SPECAL, Burford Community Hospital and the Research and Development Department of Psychiatry of Old Age, Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust, Oxford. Garner, P & Godel, M (1996)

Booklet cost £6.50 including p&p within UK; Europe: £8.95; Australia and Singapore: £10.30; Rest of World: £9.98


Price inclusive of postage

Key articles (Downloadable)

1. P.Garner (2015) ‘Responses to the Mental Health Foundation inquiry – Dementia-What is truth?’ 

2. Appendix 1  – To be read in conjunction with the response to the Mental Health Foundation Inquiry (above)

Key articles (supplied as photocopies)

N.B. If you require a number of items, please email info@contenteddementiatrust.org  and we will send you an invoice requesting payment via BACS which will reflect a reduction in price for combined postage (UK only).

1. Feinstein J.S. et al, (2010)  ‘Sustained Experience of emotion after loss of memory in patients with amnesia’,   PNAS, vol.107 no.17. University of Iowa
These findings provide direct evidence that a feeling of emotion can endure beyond the conscious recollection for the events that initially triggered the emotion.
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0914054107

Cost £1.50 including p&p

2.  ‘A SPECAL place to keep’  in The Journal of Dementia Care, Vol. 12, No. 3 May/June 2004. Hawker Publications Ltd, London.
This journal article outlines the history of SPECAL at Burford Hospital, the recent acquisition of the entire site from the NHS, and future plans for a centre of excellence in the management of dementia at Burford.   Garner, P (2004)                 

Cost £1.50 including p&p

3.  ‘Lost in the Past’ in The Observer Magazine 10 April 2005
This article reflects upon the efficacy of current medication for people experiencing dementia-driven memory loss.  James, O (2005)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

4.  ‘The many approaches to dementia care’ in Care Select 9th Edition. Care Choices Ltd. This journal article reviews various aspects of person-centred care and the SPECAL Approach.  Baynes, P (2004)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

5. ‘Where person-centred care’s a given’ in Brooker D, Edwards P. and Benson S. (eds.) Dementia Care Mapping: Experience and insights into practice. London, Hawker Publications Ltd.
This article provides a brief introduction to SPECAL Observational Tracking (SPOT) as a development of the Dementia Care Mapping tool.  Garner, P (2004)             

Cost £1.50 including p&p

6.  ‘SPECAL and the Photograph Album Approach’ in The British Psychological Society’s Special Interest Group Working with Older People (PSIGE) Newsletter No. 83
This article provides further guidance on using the Photograph Album Approach in practice. Garner, P (2003)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

7.  ‘The Fullness of Time’ in The Observer Magazine 1 December 2002
This article provides a review of the SPECAL Approach by the psychologist and author Oliver James. James, O (2002)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

8.  ‘The SPECAL approach in practice’ in PSIGE Newsletter January 2002 no. 79, p. 37
This short article provides a summary of the SPECAL Photograph Album (see below), as presented to a conference of the Special Interest Group of the Division of Clinical Psychology of The British Psychological Society, at Keble College, Oxford, on 3rd July 2001. Garner, P (2002)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

9.  ‘SPECAL: Wellbeing for people with dementia’ in Older in Oxfordshire, the 2000/2001 annual report of the Director of Public Health for Oxfordshire County Council. This excerpt provides a review of the services available at Burford in 2001.  Garner, P (2001)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

10.  ‘A multi-method evaluation of an independent dementia care service and its approach’ in Orrell, MW and Blazer, DG, eds Aging & Mental Health, Vol. 5 No.1, pp.63-72.
This journal article provides a summary of the RCN Evaluation (see below).  Pritchard, EJ & Dewing, J (2001)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

11.  ‘A SPECAL way of maintaining well-being in dementia’ in Journal of Dementia Care Vol. 8, no. 5 pp.20-24.
This journal article describes the approach in practice at Burford. Godel, MD (2000)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

12.  ‘A multi-method evaluation of a service for people with dementia’ [RCNI Report No.19]. Oxford: Royal College of Nursing Institute. This is the full report of the findings of the RCN evaluation prior to the Hospital closure.  Pritchard, EJ & Dewing, J (1999)

Cost £12.50 including p&p

13.  ‘Involving older users in education and evaluation’ in Elderly Care November 1999 vol. 11, no. 8, pp 15-17.
This journal article focuses on user involvement during the RCN evaluation.  Pritchard, J(1999)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

14.  ‘Listening to Enid’ in Elderly Care, vol. 10 no. 4, pp.12-15.
This journal article describes the way in which the SPECAL approach may be woven into a nursing setting.  Dewing, J & Garner, P (1998)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

15.  SPECAL (Specialized Early Care for Alzheimer’s) Project Report SPECAL, Burford
This report provides an account of the evidence-based practice which later led to the development of the SPECAL Photograph Album.  Garner, P (1995)

Cost £6.00 including p&p

16.  ‘The SPECAL Treatment’ in Working with Older People vol. 9 issue 3, pp 28-31.
This journal article focuses on a collaborative project to train staff working in the field of learning disability, in the SPECAL Approach to dementia care.  Willmore M, Garner P (2005)         

Cost £1.50 including p&p

17. “The SPECAL Method – patronising or pallative?”  Henry Stewart Publications, Journal of Care Services Management Vol. 3 No. 3 pp 310-313.  This paper considers the SPECAL principle of engaging clients by focusing on a key or primary theme from the past.  P Dearnaley and J Elliott (2009)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

18. “Why we’re at home with the SPECAL method” Journal of Dementia Care July/August 2011 Vol. 19 No. 4.  The Good Care Group’s positive experience of using the SPECAL method in their domiciliary care service.  Zoe Elkins (2011)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

19. “My Mother was back.  The lights were on” The Guardian 2nd August 2008.  This article reveals how the SPECAL way of treating dementia  can bring amazing benefits for patients and carers.  Oliver James (2008)

Cost £1.50 including p&p

20. “The SPECAL  Project: Perspectives of carers, care workers and sufferers” This study was commissioned by SPECAL as part of a larger evaluation of the SPECAL service.  It took the form of interviews with carers and care workers, alongside observations within the Friday Group.  Judith Lathlean (January 1996)

Cost £5.50 including p&p

21. “Quality in Health Care” Quality in Healthcare September 1997 Vol. 6 No. 3 pp 146-152. This paper covers Alzheimer’s disease in the UK: developing patient and carer support strategies to encourage care in the community. R Hunter, L McGill, N Bosanquet, N Johnson.

Cost £1.50 including p&p

22. “Dementia: A new way to treat it” The Times 3rd August 2009.  An article regarding the SPECAL approach to dementia care and how professionals are taking notice. 

Cost £1.50 including p&p

23. “Not a one trick pony: The SPECAL method as a comprehensive system of interacting clinical techniques” PSIGE Newsletter No. 109 January 2010. Garner P and James O

Cost £1.50 including p&p

24. “GPs and hospital doctors could help patients avoid ‘lost years’ ” The Clinical Services Journal. March 2010. Lowry. F (Chief Executive, The Good Care Group)

Cost £1.00 including p&p

25. “The scandal of the aged” What Doctors Don’t Tell You (WDDTY) Vol 22 No.7 October 2011 pp 10-14. The drugs industry is monopolizing dementia therapy whilst alternatives, that work better, are being inored, or suppressed. Hubbard. B

Cost £2.00 including p&p

26. “Managing emotional jetlag for people with dementia” Published by Medimond for Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International. 7-10 March 2012. Elkins. Z & Garner. P

Cost £1.50 including p&p

27. “Taking steps to improve care of patients with dementia” Prim Care Cardiovascular J (PCCJ) 2012. This article describes specific ways to improve communication with these patients. Elkins. Z & Garner. P

Cost £1.00 including p&p

28. “Evaluating the SPECAL Approach” JDC Vol 23 No. 3 May/June 2015. Considering the rationale for the SPECAL person-centred approach to the care of people with dementia and outline plans for an evaluation. McCrae. N et al

Cost £1.50 including p&p

29. “The art and science of mental health nursing – Principles and practice” [excerpt] 4th Edition. Open University Press. (2018) Norman. I and Ryrie I

Cost £1.50 including p&p

30. “Is it O.K. to lie to dementia patients?” The New Yorker Oct. 8th 2018. A dilemma in care-taking  – Should the illusions of dementia be corrected or accepted? MacFarquhar. L

Cost £1.50 including p&p

31. ” SPECAL – Evaluating a course for carers” JDC Vol 26 No. 6 Nov/Dec 2018. Results from a feasibility study carried out by members of King’s College, London. McCrae. N and Penhallow. J.

Cost £1.50 including p&p