Dementia - social psychology

Question 1

What are the four key criticisms of the biomedical model of dementia?

Answer 1

1. ignores social contexts/social factors
2. reduces people to their illness (loss of personhood)
3. lacks guidance for good care
4. no positive aspect - focus on decline of the individual

Question 2

Who is the key sociologist who challenged the biomedical view, believing dementia to be rooted in social interactions

Answer 2

Kitwood (1998)

Question 3

What does VIPS stand for? (Brooker, 2007)

Answer 3

• Value
• Individualised approach
• Perspective of person with dementia
• Social environment (that is supportive and recognises importance of relationships)

Question 4

What are the two aspects of the self identified by Sabat and Howe

Answer 4

1. Personal identify as continuous (remains despite the dementia)
2. selves that are socially and publicly presented can be lost but only indirectly as a result of the condition

Question 5

What are the strengths of labelling in relation to dementia?

Answer 5

• diagnosis helps family to understand a persons behaviour

- allows people (e.g activists living with dementia) to talk about their experiences and eradicate stigma

Question 6

What are the limitations of labelling in relation to dementia?

Answer 6

• loss of autonomy in a care home when one is labelled as incapable to doing certain things
• individual is reduced down to their illness, so all their actions are seen to reflect the dementia (e.g walking seen as wondering rather than exercise)

Question 7

Strengths of social constructionist approach

Answer 7

• helps us to understand lived experiences of dementia
• implications for improving care
  challenges negative representations

Question 8

Limitations of social constructionist approach

Answer 8

• focus on storytelling is not wholly reliable
• need to address diversity in identities
• need to address embodiment

Question 9

Outline the ethnography of Chai Village

Answer 9

• Jewish care facility
• residents enacted embodied selfhood by paying attention to their appearance, using gestures to communicate and taking part in music and dancing

Question 10

Outline hyden’s view on storytelling

Answer 10

• storytelling can become impaired as dementia progresses
• residents use gestures/body language to tell the story
• storytelling is collaborative (scaffolding to help support storytelling)