Making Sense of Dementia: Older Adults' Subjective Representations of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11230%2F24%3A10480066" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11230/24:10480066 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=0X_V7~KyhB" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=0X_V7~KyhB</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae056" target="_blank" >10.1093/geronb/gbae056</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Making Sense of Dementia: Older Adults' Subjective Representations of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
Original language description
Objectives: This research explores how the representations and meanings of living with dementia are constructed by older adults.Methods: Focus groups (N = 19) and in-depth interviews (N = 29) were conducted with older adults aged 65+ living in the Czech Republic, representing different levels of personal familiarity with care for an individual experiencing dementia.Results: We identified 2 different discourses: (1) Tragedy discourse with two distinctive repertoires "dementia as a thief of personality" and "dementia as a thief of humanity." Within such discourse, dementia transcends mere medical terminology, serving as a symbolic representation of existential anxieties linked to aging and the perceived loss of control. (2) The discourse of Dementia as a specific way in which people approach the world was articulated mainly by caregivers, providing them with a coping mechanism and a means to reconstruct the agency of the person experiencing dementia. In older adults' representations, references to suffering among family members emerged as a primary association with dementia. Dementia was portrayed as "contagious" in its effect on the family members who were, in a sense, depicted as the primary sufferers of the disease.Discussion: Dementia often serves as a symbolic tool for older adults to articulate concerns about advanced old age, extending beyond its clinical definition to convey deep-seated fears associated with aging. The experience of people surrounding those diagnosed with dementia and the permeability of the impacts of this disease between bodies represented crucial frameworks for conceptualizing dementia in the narratives of older adults.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
50401 - Sociology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA21-16738S" target="_blank" >GA21-16738S: Social life of dementia: cultural representations and subjective attitudes</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2024
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
ISSN
1079-5014
e-ISSN
1758-5368
Volume of the periodical
79
Issue of the periodical within the volume
6
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
8
Pages from-to
1-8
UT code for WoS article
001221980300009
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85193727445