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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Doing as much as I can do
— the meaning of activity for people with dementia | | Author(s) | Alison Phinney, Habib Chaudhury, Deborah L O'Connor |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 11, no 4, July 2007 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis, July 2007 |
| Pages | pp 384-393 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Engagement ; Activities of older people ; Recreation ; Attitude ; Living in the community ; Observation ; Canada. |
| Annotation | While it is assumed that people with dementia benefit from being involved in meaningful activity, research examining this claim is limited. In particular, how individuals with dementia perceive this involvement is poorly understood. This Canadian research aims to determine what constitutes meaningful activity from the perspectives of people with dementia, and to explore how they perceive its significance in their lives. The authors conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis of multiple interviews and participant observation with eight community-dwelling older people with mild to moderate dementia. For several participants, the single most important driving force in their lives was being active, doing as much as they possibly could. They were involved in a wide range of activities including leisure pastimes, household chores, work-related endeavours, and social involvement. These activities were meaningful in three ways. Through their involvement, participants experienced feelings of pleasure and enjoyment; felt a sense of connection and belonging; and retained a sense of autonomy and personal identity. Findings suggest that familiarity of the social and physical environment promotes involvement in activities. This provides a sense of continuity for people with dementia, with implications for their quality of life and personhood. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081124219 A |
| Classmark | EA: DN: G: H: DP: K4: 4AA: 7S |
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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