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Birt, Linda, Charlesworth, Georgina, Moniz-Cook, Esme, Leung, Phuong, Higgs, Paul, Orrell, Martin and Poland, Fiona 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0003-6911
(2023)
'The dynamic nature of being a person': An ethnographic study of people living with dementia in their communities.
The Gerontologist, 63 (8).
1320–1329.
ISSN 0016-9013
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A dementia diagnosis can affect social interactions. This study aims to understand how people living with dementia act as social beings within everyday interactions in their local communities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Focused ethnography informed by Spradley's approach to data collection and analysis. Observations in community spaces. RESULTS: Twenty-nine observations were undertaken in everyday social settings with 11 people with dementia who were part of a longitudinal interview study. Data consisted of 40 hr of observation, and researcher field notes. The overarching theme "the dynamic nature of being a person" encapsulates participants' exhibited experiences in negotiating to attain and sustain an acknowledged place in their communities. Two subthemes characterized contexts and actions: (1) "Being me-not dementia": Participants constructed narratives to assert their ontological presence in social settings. They and others used strategies to mediate cognitive changes evidencing dementia. (2) "Resisting or acquiescing to 'being absent in place'": Participants were often able to resist being absent to the gaze from others, but some social structures and behaviors led to a person being "in place," yet not having their presence confirmed. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: People living with dementia can actively draw on personal attributes, familiar rituals, objects, and social roles to continue to present themselves as social beings. Identifying how postdiagnosis people may self-manage cognitive changes to retain their presence as a person can help health and social care practitioners and families collaborate with the person living with dementia enabling them to have a continued social presence.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding information: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council/National Institute of Health (grant number ES/L001802/2). This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service (NHS), the NIHR, or the Department of Health. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cognitive impairment,ontology,personhood,social interaction,social presence,medicine(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Institute for Volunteering Research Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Apr 2023 10:31 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2024 15:23 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/91739 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/geront/gnad022 |
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