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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Illness representations in early-stage dementia
— a preliminary investigation | | Author(s) | Linda Clare, Trish Goater, Bob Woods |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 21, no 8, August 2006 |
| Pages | pp 761-767 |
| Source | http://www.interscience.wiley.com |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Early ; Diagnosis ; Rural areas ; Urban areas ; United Kingdom. |
| Annotation | The self-regulation model of adjustment to illness suggests that individual differences in coping and responding are related to the illness representations that people hold. The present study explores the feasibility of applying this concept with people with early-stage dementia. Understanding of the illness was explored in semi-structured interviews with 22 people (from one rural and one urban UK areas) with a diagnosis of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mixed dementia; and a measure of mood was administered. Representations covering illness, identity, cause, course, cure/control and consequences were successfully elicited, but diverged from professional constructs in some important respects. Most participants regarded their difficulties as part of normal ageing, and one third viewed their condition as stable or improving. Almost all participants described some positive coping strategies; participants who believed that nothing could be done to help were more likely to score above clinical cut-offs for depression or anxiety. These findings support the relevance of the concept of illness representations, within a self-regulation framework, to early-stage dementia. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-061024007 A |
| Classmark | EA: 4J: LK7: RL: RK: 8 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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