Centre for Policy on Ageing



Who's seeing whom? — general systems theory and constructivist implications for senile dementia intervention
Author(s)	Barbara Hanson
Journal title	Journal of Aging Studies, vol 11, no 1, Spring 1997
Pages	pp 15-26
Keywords	Dementia ; Admission ; Family care ; Medical workers ; Theory.
Annotation	The constructivist notion that people act based not on things, but rather on the meaning things have for them, coupled with a systems view of feedback causality, leads to a notion of senile dementia as a process. Looking at families where the idea that someone is sick is constructed and maintained, and considering what these construction processes mean for the experiences of senile dementia, suggests that families drive the process. This means that it is possible to posit a model of difference between the seen clinical population and the broader population, which is based not on aetiological symptoms, but rather on subjective definitions of problems. Senile dementia can therefore be considered a "social" disease separate from physical causes. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-981015202 A
Classmark	EA: QKH: P6:SJ: QT: 4D
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.