Successful aging has been well-characterized for older individuals with normal age-associated problems, but does the concept even apply when someone has a progressive dementia? Similarly, most life cycle theories have a lot to say about aging individuals up to and until they suffer from more severe conditions such as dementia, but what happens afterward? Do they still even apply at that point? My answer is that it is possible to characterize an optimal life course for those with dementia, including healthy lifestyle factors such as physical and mental exercise, adequate sleep, and nutrition, as well as more transcendent strengths such as wisdom, resilience, and creativity. This understanding is critical to enabling mental health professionals to both humanize and help their patients with dementia.
