The enduring self: personhood, autonomy and compassion in the context of community-based dementia daycare centers

Abstract

Background: The aim of this paper is to explore the concepts of personhood and compassion, as perceived by staff caring for people with dementia (PwD) in community-based dementia daycare. Autonomy in the Western culture is closely related to concepts of personhood and form the cornerstone of person centered care.

Conceptualising personhood in nursing care for people with altered consciousness, cognition and behaviours: A discussion paper

“…In response to this denial, personhood has been reconceptualised in some settings. A study exploring how personhood was perceived by carers of people living in the community with dementia described personhood as having three dimensions that were not contingent on cognition, including: biologic, individual and sociologic (Berenbaum et al, 2017). For example, biologic personhood considers an individual as a biological being where the focus of care is on fulfilling biological needs, such as relief from pain; individual personhood encompasses lived experiences, values and past roles (which may be understood vicariously via other significant persons) and sociologic personhood includes how society perceives and interacts with the person (Berenbaum et al, 2017).…”

“…In many healthcare settings, and in health literature, notions of personhood are founded upon the existence of a biological being with unique personal attributes, who possesses autonomy (which may be either personal or relational), with most constructs of personhood incorporating both the body and society (Berenbaum et al, 2017; Kong et al, 2017; Playford & Playford, 2018; Walker & Lovat, 2015). This discussion paper draws on literature addressing both personhood and its relationship to care for people with altered consciousness, cognition and behaviours, including people with dementia (Berenbaum et al, 2017; Higgs & Gilleard, 2016; Milte et al, 2016; Palmer, 2013; Smebye & Kirkevold, 2013; Vukov, 2017), people in intensive care units (ICU) (Koksvik, 2016; Walker & Lovat, 2015) and older adults in residential care homes at end‐of‐life (Kong et al, 2017). It also examines research on the personhood of people with lived experience of mental health challenges (McTighe, 2015) and people in a neurologically nonresponsive state following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Playford & Playford, 2018; Young, 2019).…”

“…Consequently, what encompasses nursing care for people with altered consciousness, cognition and behaviours is bound to be influenced by the value and understandings that nurses assign to personhood (Blain‐Moraes et al, 2018). In many healthcare settings, and in health literature, notions of personhood are founded upon the existence of a biological being with unique personal attributes, who possesses autonomy (which may be either personal or relational), with most constructs of personhood incorporating both the body and society (Berenbaum et al, 2017; Kong et al, 2017; Playford & Playford, 2018; Walker & Lovat, 2015). This discussion paper draws on literature addressing both personhood and its relationship to care for people with altered consciousness, cognition and behaviours, including people with dementia (Berenbaum et al, 2017; Higgs & Gilleard, 2016; Milte et al, 2016; Palmer, 2013; Smebye & Kirkevold, 2013; Vukov, 2017), people in intensive care units (ICU) (Koksvik, 2016; Walker & Lovat, 2015) and older adults in residential care homes at end‐of‐life (Kong et al, 2017).…”

Montessori activities for older adults in community nursing: comparative case study

“…Data on the older adult's physical ability, socialisation style, and habits were collected through interview and observation. During the interview, we observed the person's conversational characteristics, including ability to maintain a theme, ask questions, need for additional explanation, use of phrases, and respond briefly [17].…”

Self-Management of Dementia by Family Carers: A Scoping Review

“…Effective self-management of dementia by carers requires carers to preserve the personhood of their care recipients regardless of the progressive degenerative nature of the disease (Berenbaum et al, 2017; Chung et al, 2017). In this case, carers are required to meet the needs, preferences, and wishes of care recipients while managing their caregiving role.…”