scholarly journals Conduct in Dementia: Video Analysis of Arts Interventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-540
Author(s):  
Christian Morgner ◽  
Spencer Hazel ◽  
Justine Schneider ◽  
Victoria Tischler

This study applies video analysis to an investigation of interactions among people with dementia in a cultural context, specifically a visual art exhibition in a gallery. The study adopts a sociologically informed approach to explore the role of artworks and how these may be beneficial to dementia care, by focusing on meaning-making conversational practices among people living with dementia. The interactions of different individuals with various forms of dementia were recorded during three gallery visits, including their engagement with gallery attendants and artworks. The findings reveal the socially empowering impact of interactions related to artwork, with complex patterns in bodily behaviour and facial expressions meaning that orientation to dementia became negligible. The article makes a contribution to the growing field of sociology of ageing and well-being from an interaction analytic perspective, indicating that cultural values can play a greater role in the care of people living with dementia.

2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (S1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Jessica Damon

This paper describes the interaction between an American community of dancers and the wave of Afro-Brazilian influence that entered that community. Through personal experience, academic research, community observation, and conversations, the author examines the role of samba and the religious dances of the orixds within a suburban white community, highlighting how meaning is changed and constructed based on cultural context. The author emphasizes how women in this community responded to the political, social, and sexual implications of a non-native dance form, and how their resulting self-identification as a community was transformed. The essay questions how Americans can locate themselves within the greater cultural context of samba and other Afro-Brazilian dance forms, not simply as cultural outsiders but as women deeply connected to the unique American reality of these practices.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka Nakayama ◽  
Yukiko Uchida

How do people react to collective threats such as natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic? Magnificent catastrophic events might have an impact on emotions of not only those who experienced direct harm from it but also those who feel threat without actual harm. The current study demonstrated that such threat enhances self-transcendent values that further leads to general well-being, mediated by the emotion of awe. Two surveys were conducted immediately after a severe typhoon hit Japan (Study 1) and during the early phases of the COVID-19 spread in Japan (Study 2). Predisposition to feel negative awe predicted participants’ attention to both collective threat events, which led to an affirmation of self-transcendent values and general well-being. Furthermore, when participants were asked to recall a collective threat (vs. control event), they felt more awe which led to more engaged meaning making during the event, in turn predicting their affirmation of self-transcendent values.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1047-1056
Author(s):  
Brian W. Haas ◽  
Michelle R. vanDellen

Cultural context can affect how changes in self-concepts are either valued or tolerated. However, very little is currently known regarding how culture may differentially confer consequences to people that change their self-concepts over the course of several years. We investigated the moderating role of culture (Japan and USA) on the link between long-term (∼4 years) self-concept changes and a comprehensive set of well-being measures (hedonic, eudaimonic, and family based). We found that American’s self-concept instability was more negatively associated with one’s well-being and emotional support within one’s family than Japanese. Furthermore, Americans were particularly negatively impacted when they became less agentic and conscientious over time. One possible interpretation is that Western, individualistic cultures may discourage people from changing their identities throughout their adult life. Although American culture often espouses the sanctity of freedom, American culture may also limit people’s freedom to change how they see themselves over time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Wassermann ◽  
Annekatrin Hoppe

Abstract. Migration is often driven by immigrants’ hope of improving their job situation. However, in the host country, they are at risk of holding jobs below their qualifications. This study examines the relationship between perceived overqualification and psychological well-being (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) among 176 Italian immigrants in Germany along with the buffering role of optimism and meaning-making. The results show that perceived overqualification is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of life satisfaction. Optimism moderates the relationship between perceived overqualification and life satisfaction: the relationship is attenuated with increasing optimism. We conclude that interventions that enhance optimism could help immigrants cope with perceived overqualification.


Author(s):  
Nicole Marie Gaston

Building on recent developments in information behavior theory & research, this paper explores the role of context in methodological approaches to the investigation of everyday information behavior. In particular, the author examines the implicit role of Western constructs in existing models and theories of information behavior, and illustrates how a more contextually responsive method for investigating information behavior may provide more robust and accurate indices of how individuals interact with information in their everyday lives in diverse contexts. The value of a contextualized understanding of information behavior is demonstrated by drawing on two studies examining the role of contextual factors in everyday information behavior in non-Western societies. In doing so the author identifies several factors with considerable contextual variation that play a strong role in how individuals need, seek and use information in their daily lives, particularly social and cultural values.  The author also demonstrates the value in further exploring this contextual variation in information behavior research, supported by relevant theoretical and philosophical considerations. The resulting information behavior research methodology is aimed at identifying the contextual factors present in everyday information behavior, which may enable information scientists to better understand variation in information behavior and develop more robust tools for investigating information behavior in diverse communities.  I conclude by suggesting that the implementation of this method may also lead to better understanding of the relationship between information practices and well-being, as well as having implications for international development and cross-cultural collaboration.


Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Fossey ◽  
Lucy Garrod ◽  
Azucena Guzman ◽  
Ingelin Testad

Objectives This study explored the experiences of a range of health and social care professionals employed in the role of trainer/coaches to support care home staff to implement a psychosocial intervention for residents living with dementia. It aimed to identify the factors which are pertinent to these roles, in the context of a cascade model of training. Method A focus group was convened involving dementia trainer/coaches and supervisors who had worked on Well-being and Health for people with Dementia randomised control trial. Twelve participants explored their preparedness for and experiences of their role as ‘Well-being and Health for people with Dementia therapists’. They reflected on their perceptions of the resources and support required. The data were transcribed verbatim and subjected to inductive thematic analysis. Results Three main themes emerged from the data. Within the theme of ‘skills in relationship building’ were two subthemes of developing trust and getting to know individual staff and each care home. In the second main theme of ‘making use of tangible resources’ two subthemes relating to using the Well-being and Health for people with Dementia manuals and the supervision of the therapists arose. The third theme, ‘being an agent for change’ contained three subthemes: effective training methods, creating opportunities for Dementia Champions to reflect and therapists' perceived rewards of their role. Conclusion The findings provide new insights into the trainer/coach role applicable to the practices of services recruiting, training and providing ongoing professional support to practitioners in-reaching into care homes.


Elements ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Wong

Descriptions and interactions with food serve as signifiers of cultural values in the postmodern society of Don DeLillo's novel, <em>White Noise</em>. Amid a constant stream of name brand advertisements and flashy television commercials, characters struggle to find substantive meaning in their lives. DeLillo presents a consumer culture swamped in excess, belongings, and commodities, where food items characterize their buyers and even commodify their outlooks on life. From family bargain packs of potato chips indicating success and well-being, to plastic-wrapped slices of cheese facilitating an efficient yet isolated life, this essay discusses DeLillo's different uses of food imagery throughout the novel. DeLillo's portrayal of a postmodern consumer society is put into dialogue with acclaimed experts and critics Jean Baudrillard and Thorstein Veblen, as well as artistic work that comments on the role of 'pop foods' in contemporary American culture, incluidng works by pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and poet Allen Ginsberg.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette M. Willemse ◽  
Murna Downs ◽  
Lonneke Arnold ◽  
Dieneke Smit ◽  
Jacomine de Lange ◽  
...  

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