Example social policy dissertation topic 9:

Dementia: A comprehensive and comparative evaluation of the UK’s national policy for care.

With an ageing population, dementia is an increasing problem to the long term health of the nation. As working families become more and more unable to undertake care for relatives with dementia, and the life span of sufferers is extended through health interventions, a comprehensive national policy is needed. This dissertation, primarily composed using secondary sources, considers whether the framework currently in place is sufficient, evaluates whether the reluctance of general practitioners to make specialist referrals for early treatment of dementia-sufferers, and examines the policies established in Sweden and Spain. Finally, the paper makes recommendations for the improvement of care policies and standards in the UK.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• McDonald, A. and Dening, T. (2002). ‘Dementia is being avoided in NHS and social care’, British Medical Journal, 324:548.2.
• Moise, P., Schwarzinger, M., Um, M-Y. and the OECD Dementia Experts Group (2004). Dementia care in 9 OECD countries: A comparative analysis. Paris: OECD.
• Nolan, M.R., Davies, S., Brown, J., Keady, J. and Nolan, J. (2004). ‘Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: A new vision for gerontological nursing’, Journal of Clinical Nursing, Vol. 13, pp. 45-53.