Views of life and sense of identity in people with Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Making it possible for people with Alzheimer's disease to retain a sense of identity during the process of the disease poses a great challenge to care-givers, professionals and family carers. The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of the view of life of people with Alzheimer's in framing their sense of identity. Is their view of life a vital aspect of their sense of identity? ' View of life ' was interpreted as a vital aspect of sense of identity, understood as the individual's beliefs about their life history and about the attributes that characterised them. Twenty-one people with mild to moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease were interviewed about their life story. The narratives were interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic method. By telling their life story, the participants also narrated their view of life, i.e. their conception of reality, their central system of values and their basic emotional attitudes. By their own accounts, the origins of the narrators' central values and basic emotional attitudes were established in early life. They also expressed a sense of meaningfulness and continuity when looking back on their lives. The findings suggest that for a care-giver or confidant, having knowledge of a person with dementia's view of life is valuable when seeking to confirm that person's sense of identity.KEY WORDS -Alzheimer's disease, identity, life story, view of life, interviews, phenomenological hermeneutics.

“To be, or not to be”: experiencing deterioration among people with young-onset dementia living alone

“…Still, the essence of the experience of dementia is that the development of self is eroded (Caddell & Clare, 2010; Mograbi, Brown, & Morris, 2009; Westius, Kallenberg, & Norberg, 2010). The self can no longer be maintained and linked to memory and recollection of the past, of the autobiography; and the cognitive ability to connect events, places and people becomes lost (Jetten, Haslam, Pugliese, Tonks, & Haslam, 2010).…”

Expressions of Sense of Self Among Individuals With Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Certain participants stated that life must take its course and that one must accept what occurs and live in the moment. Westius et al (2010) found that by narrating their life story, people with mild and moderate AD also narrated their understanding of reality, their system of values, and their basic emotional attitudes. This interpretation is consistent with a report that people with AD sought to act in accordance with their values (McFadden, Ingram, & Baldauf, 2001).…”

Small Groups, Big Gains: Efficacy of a Tier 2 Phonological Awareness Intervention With Preschoolers With Early Literacy Deficits

“…Even for older adults with restricted cognitive-linguistic abilities, conversation based on reminiscence acknowledges, affirms, and values life experiences as topics of discussion, adding to meaningful social roles and improving health-related quality of life (Hilari & Northcott, 2006). Telling stories about one's life provides a sense of identity, meaningfulness, and continuity, even for those with cognitive or linguistic challenges (Westius, Kallenberg, & Norberg, 2010).…”

“…Rich conversation is possible when one partner has a significant language impairment, often through multimodal communication (Goodwin, 2003). Topics that are woven into social relationships and give each person a unique personality are the first ones lost with challenges to spontaneous language and the subsequent verbal isolation and reduced sense of self-identity (Westius et al, 2010).…”