The Stigma Toward Dementia on Twitter: A Sentiment Analysis of Dutch Language Tweets

Creten, Silke; Heynderickx, Priscilla; Dieltjens, Sylvain

doi:10.1080/10810730.2022.2149904

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…We expect health professionals and family caregivers to have higher dementia friendliness and dementia literacy than the general public, with more specific gaps in knowledge, if any. Second, we expect to find negative attitudes in the general public in Flanders, in line with the findings of Creten et al (2022) in their analysis of the presence of stigma in Dutch language tweets. Furthermore, as shown by Kim et al (2019), we expect exposure to dementia to be strongly positively correlated with more positive attitudes towards the condition.…”

Section: Research Aimssupporting

confidence: 80%

Dementia Literacy and Its Link to Public Attitudes towards Dementia in Flanders: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Health Professionals, Family Caregivers, and the General Public

Creten,

Heynderickx

2024

JSS

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Background: The stigma towards dementia has an impact on the quality of life of the people living with the condition as well as their caregivers. However, to date, little is known about the public attitudes towards dementia and dementia literacy in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. With the present study, we aim to fill that gap. Methods: An online questionnaire was created, consisting of sociodemographic questions and the Dutch translations of the Dementia Knowledge Attribute Scale (DKAS) and the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS). Respondents were divided into three clusters: health professionals, family caregivers, and the general public. Demographic information and exposure to dementia were surveyed as well. The survey was disseminated online targeting Flemish adults in all three clusters. The data from the two validated surveys and the demographic information were analysed by means of descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations. Finally, our findings regarding knowledge and attitudes are compared cross-culturally to findings of previous research using the same validated scales (DKAS and DAS). Results: Our final sample contained 6351 valid answers across the three clusters: the general public (N = 3094), health professionals (N = 1686), and family caregivers (N = 1196). The findings indicate a knowledge gap concerning "Risk and Health Promotion" in Flanders. Our comparison between the three clusters show that health professionals had the highest attitudes scores, as well as the best overall dementia knowledge scores. The correlation analysis also revealed that dementia exposure in the general population increased attitude and knowledge scores. A comparison of recent literature reveals a large How to cite this paper: Creten, S., & Heynderickx, P.

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Section: Research Aimssupporting

confidence: 80%

Dementia Literacy and Its Link to Public Attitudes towards Dementia in Flanders: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Health Professionals, Family Caregivers, and the General Public

Creten,

Heynderickx

2024

JSS

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“…Dementia is frequently discussed as a natural disaster (tsunami), a weapon of mass destruction (time bomb) or an epidemic (Behuniak 2011;Johnstone 2013;Peel 2014;Zeilig 2014). Relatedly, dementia is consistently personified as an agentive enemy, whether as a malicious human (a killer, hostile intruder or thief) or a non-human threat (a demon, monster, parasite or alien) (Brookes et al 2018;Clarke 2006;Creten, Heynderickx, and Dieltjens 2021;Johnstone 2013;Sestáková and Plichtová 2020;van Gorp and Vercruysse 2012). This personification is achieved not only through noun but also verb choices, such as in the representation of dementia as an agent that "attacks," "consumes," "deprives," "destroys," "hits," "invades," "strikes," or "robs" (Johnstone 2013, 378).…”

Section: Dementia As Powerful Catastrophic and Fear-inducingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Metaphors are therefore commonly used to dehumanize people with dementia, whether through positioning people as zombies (Behuniak 2011;Creten, Heynderickx, and Dieltjens 2021;Johnstone 2013) or as being invaded by an alien, being a vegetable, an animal, an empty shell, no longer being there, or already dead (Bailey, Dening, and Harvey 2021;Johnstone 2013;Medina 2017;van Gorp and Vercruysse 2012;Zimmermann 2017). Dehumanization can also occur through metaphors that envision people living with dementia as faulty machines, which risks pathologizing, backgrounding and passivizing individuals (Bailey, Dening, and Harvey 2021;Caldwell, Falcus, and Sako 2021).…”

Section: Delegitimizing Group Labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dementia stigma: representation and language use

Putland,

Brookes

2024

JLAR

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Linguistic choices are widely understood to have the potential to contribute to, but also to challenge, dementia stigma. This scoping review therefore aims to better understand: 1) the characteristics of language-oriented studies into representations of dementia and people with dementia, particularly regarding theoretical engagement with dementia stigma; and 2) what specific linguistic features have the potential to contribute to and/or challenge dementia stigma. Using Scopus, PubMed, PsychInfo and Google Scholar, 44 papers published between January 2000 and December 2022 were selected and thematically synthesized. We found that the number of publications addressing language and dementia stigma increased dramatically over the period covered. Most studies (75 %) did not explicitly define their use of the term stigma, and those that did drew on a range of theories and sources. Linguistic features associated with stigma included catastrophizing metaphors and the personification of dementia as a cruel enemy. Distancing and delegitimizing strategies were popularly used for people living with dementia, including homogenization, negative group labels, dehumanizing metaphors, infantilization and passivization. Humor could be used to perpetuate dementia stigma, but also to resist and reclaim stigmatizing discourses. Dementia stigma could be challenged through redefining the roles attributed to social actors, directly critiquing harmful discourses, and by providing counter-discourses. Counter-discourses used normalizing, holistic, person-centerd, rights-based, optimistic and affirmative language. Overall, a complex picture of language and dementia stigma emerges. Based on our review of the 44 papers considered, we argue that much language has the potential to perpetuate or resist stigma, and that this is shaped by and depends upon the broader discursive context within which such language use takes place.

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“…In addition to a pandemic, the population also experienced an infodemic or infoxication, i.e., they received too much information, including false or misleading messages, in both digital and physical environments during the outbreak (Corinti et al, 2022;Gisondi et al, 2022;Rubinelli et al, 2022;WHO, 2020, 23 September). This is another element that can reinforce existing stigma (Creten et al, 2022).…”

Section: Covid-19 and The Infodemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cartoons of mental illness after COVID-19. A decalogue of good practices for a non-stigmatising visual representation

Soria-Yenez,

Sapiña,

Domínguez

2024

Estud. mensaje periodís.

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The mental health of the population has deteriorated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been shown that people with mental illnesses face discrimination and stigma. In this context, communication is an essential tool to make these illnesses more visible and, in particular, cartoons can play an important role. In this paper we analyze 317 cartoons dealing with mental health. We compared the cartoons published before and during the pandemic to see if there were any changes, if stigma was reduced and if journalistic good practice guidelines were applied to the cartoons. The data suggest that more attention has been paid to mental health issues during the pandemic, although many stereotypes and bad practices still dominate the cartoons. Furthermore, graphic humor proves its value as a tool for analyzing current affairs and can also be used to raise awareness of mental health issues.

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The Stigma Toward Dementia on Twitter: A Sentiment Analysis of Dutch Language Tweets

Abstract: Silke Creten is working on a PhD in linguistics at KU Leuven. In her research project, she looks into communication about dementia and communication with people living with dementia in Flanders, with an emphasis on the stigma surrounding the condition. Her research interests

Cited by 5 publications

References 21 publications

Dementia Literacy and Its Link to Public Attitudes towards Dementia in Flanders: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Health Professionals, Family Caregivers, and the General Public

Dementia Literacy and Its Link to Public Attitudes towards Dementia in Flanders: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Health Professionals, Family Caregivers, and the General Public

Dementia stigma: representation and language use

Cartoons of mental illness after COVID-19. A decalogue of good practices for a non-stigmatising visual representation

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