scholarly journals A ‘history of problematizations’ for dementia education: a Foucauldian approach to understanding the framing of dementia

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 212-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Knifton ◽  
Scott Yates

Background Debates relevant to both undergraduate and postgraduate nurse education regarding the conceptualisation and disciplinary ownership of dementia, including its framing as a neuro-psychiatric condition, a terminal illness or a consequence of ageing, are important in supporting an understanding of the lived experience of dementia for individuals and their family carers and how, as a condition, it has come to be problematised in Western society. The work of Michel Foucault is useful in setting this debate within a critical historical context. Aims Using Foucault's ‘history of problematizations’ we present such debates around dementia's conceptualisation in Western society and consider how a Foucauldian critical historical project influences nursing education by re-examining the problematisation of dementia within society, what it is to be a person with dementia, and how alternative conceptualisations shape how we see the condition – as well as how we provide learning opportunities for dementia-care professionals. Results Six differing ways of conceptualising or problematising dementia were found (as a natural consequence of ageing, a mental disorder, a bio-medical disease, a neuro-cognitive disorder, a disability and a terminal illness), each offering alternative ways we might present it in an educational context. Conclusions We argue for both undergraduate and postgraduate student nurses to engage in learning that locates what it is to be a person with dementia within particular conceptual frameworks that would allow understanding of how these ideas or constructs are reliant on historically contingent assumptions. Here, taken-for-granted assumptions are unsettled, and a more critically reflective position is adopted. This will have an impact on the type of nurse to emerge from educational institutions, thus also affecting service delivery and the dementia care provided, as well as the knock-on effects for dementia education in other medical, health and social care courses and for institutions whose role it is to approve professional practice curricula content.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 62-63
Author(s):  
Sabarigirivasan Muthukrishnan ◽  
Jane Hopkinson ◽  
Kate Hydon ◽  
Lucy Young ◽  
Cristie Howells

Background:Best practice in dementia care is support in the home. Yet, crisis is common and can result in hospital admission. Home-treatment of crisis is an alternative to hospital admission that can have better outcomes and is the preference of people living with dementia.Purpose:To report an investigation of the management of crisis for people with dementia living at home and managed by a Home Treatment Crisis Team.Objective:To identify critical factors for successful resolution of crisis and avoidance of hospital admissionMethods:The research was mixed-methods case study design. It was an in depth investigation of what happens during crisis in people with dementia and how it is managed by a home treatment crisis team to resolution and outcome at six weeks and six months. Methods were observation of the management of crisis in the home setting for 15 people with dementia (max 3 per person, total 41 observations), interviews with people with dementia (n=5), carers (n=13), and 14 professionals (range 1 to 6 per person, total 29), a focus group with professionals (n=9) and extraction from medical records of demographics and medical history.The analysis focused on the identification of key treatments, behaviours, education and context important for home treatment to prevent hospital admission.Findings:The study recruited 15 of the 88 accepted referrals to the service for management of a crisis in a person with dementia.Factors key for crisis resolution were a systems approach with embedded respect for personhood,attention to carer needs independently of the person with dementia,review and monitoring of the effect of medications,awareness and promotion of potential benefits with treatment at home,education of the health and social care workforce in dementia care, local availability of respite and other social care services.The Home Treatment Crisis Team created a ‘Safe Dementia Space’ for the person with dementia in crisis. In the first instance, this was immediate but temporary with on-going assessment and intervention until negotiated permanent support was in place coproduced and agreed by stakeholders to be a sustainable dementia space with acceptable risk of harm to the person with dementia or others. The approach enabled avoidance of hospital admission in more than 80% of referrals.Conclusion:This is the first study to collect data during crisis at home for people with dementia and to investigate process and management. It reveals the Home Treatment Crisis Team created sustainable ‘Safe Dementia Space’ to enable the person with dementia to continue to live in the community during and after crisis, thus avoiding hospital admission. The identified key components of the management approach for crisis resolution are important considerations in the design and delivery of home treatment services for people with dementia in the UK and beyond.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Smith ◽  
S. Parveen ◽  
C. Sass ◽  
M. Drury ◽  
J. R. Oyebode ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite people living with dementia representing a significant proportion of health and social care users, until recently in the United Kingdom (UK) there were no prescribed standards for dementia education and training. This audit sought to review the extent and nature of dementia education and training offered to health and social care staff in the UK against the standards described in the 2015 Dementia Training Standards Framework, which describes the knowledge and skills required of the UK dementia workforce. Methods This audit presents national data concerning the design, delivery, target audience, length, level, content, format of training, number of staff trained and frequency of delivery within existing dementia training programmes offered to health and social care staff. The Dementia Training Standards Framework was used as a reference for respondents to describe the subjects and learning outcomes associated with their training. Results The findings are presented from 614 respondents offering 386 training packages, which indicated variations in the extent and quality of training. Many training packages addressed the subjects of ‘person-centred care’, ‘communication’, ‘interaction and behaviour in dementia care’, and ‘dementia awareness’. Few training packages addressed subjects concerning ‘pharmacological interventions in dementia care’, ‘leadership’ and ‘end of life care’. Fewer than 40% of The Dementia Training Standards Framework learning outcomes targeted to staff with regular contact with people with dementia or in leadership roles were covered by the reported packages. However, for training targeted at increasing dementia awareness more than 70% of the learning outcomes identified in The Dementia Training Standards Framework were addressed. Many training packages are not of sufficient duration to derive impact; although the majority employed delivery methods likely to be effective. Conclusions The development of new and existing training and education should take account of subjects that are currently underrepresented and ensure that training reflects the Training Standard Framework and evidence regarding best practice for delivery. Lessons regarding the limitations of training in the UK serve as a useful illustration of the challenge of implementing national dementia training standards; particularly for countries who are developing or have recently implemented national dementia strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-445
Author(s):  
Ya Chi Huang ◽  
Ruoh Lih Lei ◽  
Ruo Wan Lei ◽  
Faizal Ibrahim

Background: Generally, a person with dementia may be unable to make decisions by themselves and professionals may decide what is best for them. Unfortunately, in most cases, professionals assist a person with dementia to make decisions without clear explanation or consent. Whether a person with dementia possesses dignity in routine care is an important issue. Research objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of the healthcare professionals in providing dignified dementia care in Taiwan. Research design: A qualitative, hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was conducted. Participants: Participants were enrolled by purpose sampling. Researchers performed in-depth interviews to reveal the essential ingredient of dignity within dementia care in Taiwan. A total of 20 cases were enrolled to achieve data saturation. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the institutional review board. Before conducting the interview, interviewees provided informed consent. Findings: There were three themes and six categories that were addressed and constructed; within the themes, 23 Guidelines for Taiwan Dignified Dementia Care and 12 Principles for Dignified Dementia Care in Taiwan were developed. Discussion: From the data relating to dignity in dementia care, we can develop a more independent and dignified care environment to improve the quality of life of person with dementia in Taiwan. Conclusion: The results indicated that dignity within dementia care was constructed by the lived experience of the healthcare professionals, as well as affected by the culture of the organizations and society at the same time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Purse

The digital surface in cinema has, throughout its relatively brief history, been subject to a familiar “iconophobic” tendency, documented by Rosalind Galt (2011) , to denigrate surface decoration as “empty spectacle” (p. 2). In early scholarship on computer generated (CG) images in cinema, the digital surface's alleged seamlessness and “new depthlessness” frequently became an overdetermined nexus of loss: of material presence, of an indexical relation to the world and lived experience, and of the continuation of older traditions of narrative cinema. Today, digital visual effects sequences in mainstream cinema continue to be framed by film reviewers in negative terms: as variously lacking imagination, realism, narrative depth, and affective power. Digital visual effects and digital media scholarship have done much to reclaim the cultural significance of mainstream digital visual effects sequences and their capacity to speak to a rapidly evolving and increasingly encompassing digital media ecology. Yet the formal heterogeneity of this evolving period of mainstream aesthetic consolidation and experimentation with digital images, surfaces and spaces has yet to be fully acknowledged. This article seeks to contribute to this broader task by focussing on the mainstream cinematic history of the digital composite, and specifically those moments where it displays a particularly self-reflexive character. If the digital composite has traditionally been characterised by its attempt to totally erase signs of its composite nature, across the period of CG images' proliferation in cinema an occasional figure emerges that seeks to do the opposite: a digital composite that formally fragments, foregrounds, and scrutinises the digital surfaces that constitute it. Drawing on scholarship on the computer image, digital media and the post-cinematic, this article will argue that these returns of the self-conscious digital composite speak meaningfully to their historical context.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Kindell ◽  
Simon Burrow ◽  
Ray Wilkinson ◽  
John David Keady

Purpose – Life story work has a relatively long tradition in the caring sciences and is recognised as an important component of dementia care and practice. However, to date, there has not been a review of accessible life story resources. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Following a systematic approach to identification and inclusion, 11 life story resources were reviewed to ascertain areas of commonality and divergence between the materials. Findings – The authors were able to group the analysis under eight areas and at the end of this process, it was uncertain if life story work is a formal staff intervention or an informal activity that people with dementia and their families could engage in. Resources also varied in terms of whether the life story information was organised in a chronological way, or with topics of interest/discussion or with a combination of both. Life story evaluation and its impact on the life of the person with dementia is in need of development. Practical implications – Across the resources the authors identified four reasons to do life story work which the authors have named as: emotional connections; interactional connections; building new connections and practical care connections. Social implications – There was limited guidance aimed at helping people with dementia to develop and compile their own life story. Originality/value – This paper provides new insights into the usefulness, future directions and content of life story resources in dementia care. It will be of interest to those in health and social care as well as people living with dementia.


Author(s):  
Christopher Brooke

This is the first full-scale look at the essential place of Stoicism in the foundations of modern political thought. Spanning the period from Justus Lipsius's Politics in 1589 to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile in 1762, and concentrating on arguments originating from England, France, and the Netherlands, the book considers how political writers of the period engaged with the ideas of the Roman and Greek Stoics that they found in works by Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The book examines key texts in their historical context, paying special attention to the history of classical scholarship and the historiography of philosophy. The book delves into the persisting tension between Stoicism and the tradition of Augustinian anti-Stoic criticism, which held Stoicism to be a philosophy for the proud who denied their fallen condition. Concentrating on arguments in moral psychology surrounding the foundations of human sociability and self-love, the book details how the engagement with Roman Stoicism shaped early modern political philosophy and offers significant new interpretations of Lipsius and Rousseau together with fresh perspectives on the political thought of Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes. The book shows how the legacy of the Stoics played a vital role in European intellectual life in the early modern era.


Author(s):  
Begüm Tuğlu

Feminist authors have long been trying to alter the patriarchal structure of the Western society through different aspects. One of these aspects, if not the strongest, is the struggle to overcome centuries long dominance of male authors who have created a masculine history, culture and literature. As recent works of women authors reveal, the strongest possibility of actually achieving an equalitarian society lies beneath the chance of rewriting the history of Western literature. Since the history of Western literature relies on dichotomies that are reminiscences of modernity, the solution to overcome the inequality between the two sexes seems to be to rewrite the primary sources that have influenced the cultural heritage of literature itself. The most dominant dichotomies that shape this literary heritage are represented through the bonds between the concepts of women/man and nature/culture. As one of the most influential epics that depict these dichotomies, Homer's Odysseus reveals how poetry strengthens the authority of the male voice. In order to define the ideal "man", Homer uses a wide scope of animal imagery while forming the identities of male characters. Margaret Atwood, on the other hand, is not contended with Homer's poem in that it never narrates the story from the side of women. As a revisionist mythmaker, Atwood takes the famous story of Odysseus, yet this time presents it from the perspective of Penelope, simultaneously playing on the animal imagery. Within this frame, I intend to explore in this paper how the animal imagery in Homer's most renowned Odysseus functions as a reinforcing tool in the creation of masculine identities and how Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad defies this formation of identities with the aim of narrating the story from the unheard side, that of the women who are eminently present yet never heard.


This first-ever history of the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) is told through the reflections of its eight chairs in the period from the end of the Cold War until 2017. Coeditors Robert Hutchings and Gregory Treverton add a substantial introduction placing the NIC in its historical context going all the way back to the Board of National Estimates in the 1940s, as well as a concluding chapter that highlights key themes and judgments. The historic mission of this remarkable but little-understood organization is strategic intelligence assessment in service of senior American foreign policymakers. It has been at the center of every critical foreign policy issue during the period covered by this volume: helping shape America’s post–Cold War strategies, confronting sectarian conflicts around the world, meeting the new challenge of international terrorism, and now assessing the radical restructuring of the global order. Each chapter places its particular period of the NIC’s history in context (the global situation, the administration, the intelligence community) and assesses the most important issues with which the NIC grappled during the period, acknowledging failures as well as claiming successes. With the creation of the director of national intelligence in 2005, the NIC’s mission mushroomed to include direct intelligence support to the main policymaking committees in the government. The mission shift took the NIC directly into the thick of the action but may have come at the expense of weakening its historic role of providing over-the horizon strategic analysis.


Author(s):  
Stephen R. Barley

The four chapters of this book summarize the results of thirty-five years dedicated to studying how technologies change work and organizations. The first chapter places current developments in artificial intelligence into the historical context of previous technological revolutions by drawing on William Faunce’s argument that the history of technology is one of progressive automation of the four components of any production system: energy, transformation, and transfer and control technologies. The second chapter lays out a role-based theory of how technologies occasion changes in organizations. The third chapter tackles the issue of how to conceptualize a more thorough approach to assessing how intelligent technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can shape work and employment. The fourth chapter discusses what has been learned over the years about the fears that arise when one sets out to study technical work and technical workers and methods for controlling those fears.


Author(s):  
Stephen D. Bowd

Renaissance Mass Murder explores the devastating impact of war on the men and women of the Renaissance. In contrast to the picture of balance and harmony usually associated with the Renaissance, it uncovers in forensic detail a world in which sacks of Italian cities and massacres of civilians at the hands of French, German, Spanish, Swiss, and Italian troops were regular occurrences. The arguments presented are based on a wealth of evidence—histories and chronicles, poetry and paintings, sculpture and other objects—which together provide a new and startling history of sixteenth-century Italy and a social history of the Italian Wars. It outlines how massacres happened, how princes, soldiers, lawyers, and writers, justified and explained such events, and how they were represented in contemporary culture. On this basis the book reconstructs the terrifying individual experiences of civilians in the face of war and in doing so offers a story of human tragedy which redresses the balance of the history of the Italian Wars, and of Renaissance warfare, in favour of the civilian and away from the din of the battlefield. This book also places mass murder in a broader historical context and challenges claims that such violence was unusual or in decline in early modern Europe. Finally, it shows that women often suffered disproportionately from this violence and that immunity for them, as for their children, was often partially developed or poorly respected.


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