Abstract
People living with dementia often have negative outlooks, but some come to have positive outlooks. However, the factors behind this change in outlook are not clear. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to clarify these factors in people living with dementia. We believe that this study can help people living with dementia live in society more hopefully. In addition, as a first step, this study may lead to devising approaches for positive changes for people living with dementia. A semi-structured interview was conducted with eight people living with dementia. Five were engaged in activities to promote and raise awareness of dementia (positive outlook) and three were not (negative outlook). Survey items included changes in cognition and experiences unique to dementia patients and relationships with family members and people supporting them. The first author used “Steps for Coding and Theorisation” to analyse the verbatim transcripts. We then categorised the causes of changes to investigate them and compared the two groups. Results revealed that those in the positive outlook group were greatly influenced by their social environment and were also divided into two types: those whose behaviour changed first and those whose inner self changed first. In addition, those in the negative outlook group suggested that they were prepared to live with dementia but had hidden negative emotions such as resistance to dementia and sadness due to lack of understanding. To consider future approaches, it is necessary to consider how to interact with people living with dementia in social environments.
Presenters
Ayaka YamanakaResearcher, NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan Mana Sasagawa
Researcher, NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan Hisashi Matsukawa
Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, Symbiotic Intelligence Laboratory, NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan Asuka Ono
Researcher, NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan Shunichi Seko
Senior Research Engineer, Symbionic Intelligence Laboratory, NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
DEMENTIA, POSITIVE CHANGE, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
