Reconstructing the Temporal-Relational Context: Trans-Action Patterns of Caregivers of an Ill Relative with Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

The evolution of a social model of care has been accelerated by a range of factors such as new technology, a change in political parties, and lobbying activity. Further complicating the emergence of the new paradigm is the fact that providing effective care within the community requires an understanding of the context that surrounds the family and the ill person, who must often cope with illnesses that require specialized services and the caring for another person's basic human needs. Using the relational sociology perspective, this study aims to better understand the care trajectory of caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease. We have adopted a methodologically innovative approach that explores two life histories from the viewpoint of social networks, social representations and action sequences. Only once researchers and policy-makers better understand help-seeking processes in the unpredictable context of chronic illness and social life, can they hope to develop social policies adapted to a population whose multiple needs require long-term community care.

Improving the experience of dementia and enhancing active life - living well with dementia: study protocol for the IDEAL study

“…The aim of these analyses will be to construct illness careers and illness trajectories [ 99 ] and where possible explore explanations for variations in career trajectories using qualitative comparative analysis [ 100 ]. We will adopt a relational sociology perspective to construct case studies of people with dementia and carers addressing the background to illness onset, the interface with services and support, and social networks [ 101 ]. The research will adopt a mixed-method approach to the collection and analysis of social network data, producing network maps using appropriate software in combination with the analysis of interview narratives to unpack the meaning and feelings attached to networks as part of individual life-stories [ 102 ].…”

To what extent does diagnosis matter? Dementia diagnosis, trouble interpretation and caregiving network dynamics

“…This paper is primarily based on qualitative analyses, with the help of a coding system aimed at emphasising action sequences and the role of each actor in the patient's network (Carpentier 2011). Our goal is to go back and forth between standardised coding and systematic reading of interviews, in order to examine recurrent processes: trying to combine (and in doing so, extend beyond) the generalisation potential of coding and the precision of case studies.…”

Consultation and illness behaviour in response to symptoms: A comparison of models from different disciplinary frameworks and suggestions for future research directions

“…The study follows caregivers over time to understand the mutual influence of family history, linked lives, human agency and organisational factors such as the healthcare environment. It draws on relational sociology and uses mixed methods to represent network structure and how this changes over time in the context of narratives of care which can be seen as social representations of barriers and facilitators of seeking help (Carpentier, 2011). Ideally, these approaches would be supplemented by data collection from multiple members of social networks as undertaken by Pescosolido and Wright (2004).…”