An exploratory study of dignity in dementia care

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.

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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1057-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farya Phillips

AbstractObjective:Adolescents are considered the group most susceptible to negative psychosocial outcomes when faced with a parent's illness. However, there has been extremely limited research on the adolescent's adjustment to advanced parental cancer. The aim of our study was to gain understanding of the experiences of adolescents, in their own words, to gather pilot data about the needs of this population that will be valuable in developing interventions for adolescents facing parental cancer.Method:A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was applied using in-depth semistructured interviews to inquire about adolescents' experiences. Some 10 adolescents (7 males, 3 females) aged 14–17 were interviewed.Results:Four essential themes about adolescents living with a parent's advanced cancer emerged from the analysis: “life interrupted,” “being there,” “managing emotions,” and “positives prevail.” These findings underscore the significant impact an advanced cancer diagnosis can have on a family unit and suggest that the experience may also have the potential of creating opportunities for growth and well-being. Our findings reinforce previous results that advocate for the importance of family and peer support, positive attitude, and open communication when a family is coping with advanced parental cancer.Significance of results:Understanding how adolescents gain strength from their relationships with family and peers offers healthcare professionals an opportunity to have services and strategies in place to foster these relationships.


Author(s):  
Maghsoud Farasatkhah ◽  
Nasrin Asgharzadeh

The current paper tried to explore the lived experience of Iranian students at universities in recent years after commercialization and commodification of higher education followed by limitations on the public and governmental resources of the universities. Thus, a university student is reduced to a customer position. The aim of this research is to study the lived experience of students in an old comprehensive university in the capital of Iran. Since the goal of the researchers was to go near the students themselves to reveal the lived and perceived experiences of them with the interpretive paradigm as a methodology. The hermeneutic phenomenological research method was chosen with deep exploratory interviews as a data gathering tool. Deep exploratory interviews were fulfilled with a purposive sample of 25 university students on the data saturation basis. 250 main propositions were found from these interviews. The most important propositions extracted with the thematic analysis method showed that just 30 percent of experiences were positive but 70 percent of them were negative.


2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Crain ◽  
Corinne Koehn

This study explored the lived experience of hope for domestic violence support workers. A hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyze the experiences of six professional women, aged 37 through 69. Four themes, each with subthemes, emerged from the findings: Hope is visceral reveals the phenomenology of hope as experienced through bodily sensations, reactions, and emotions. Hope is contextual describes how experiences of hope are enhanced by personal perspectives and social environments. Hope is mutual reveals how interactions with other people inspire hope. Hope is a journey illustrates how hope evolves over the years to reveal new understandings of what it means to live hopefully. The article discusses implications for counseling, counselor education, and service provider organizations and presents suggestions for future research.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina C. Byers, ◽  
Nancey E.M. France,

The phenomenon of interest for this study was the registered nurse’s (RN’s) lived experience of caring for patients with dementia in the acute care setting. Watson’s theory of human science and human care and van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach were used to guide this study. The strategies used for the generation and analysis of data were tape-recorded open-ended interviews, field notes, and the researchers’ audio-taped journal. Upon saturation, two themes and a synthesis of unity emerged across all participants. The implications for practice were clearly communicated by the RNs in this study. Further research is recommended.


Author(s):  
Julie K Krøier ◽  
Brynjulf Stige ◽  
Hanne Mette Ridder

Abstract When music therapists are supervising caregivers in how to apply music in their interactions with persons with dementia, we may term this as indirect music therapy practice. Musical interactions are mostly happening through nonverbal, implicit, and embodied knowledge, and, therefore, there is a need for exploring and verbalizing such interactions for music therapists to be able to disseminate to caregivers and other professionals. In this qualitative study, we examine how 6 music therapists with clinical experience in dementia care experience nonverbal interaction with persons with severe dementia living in nursing homes. Explorative focus groups were conducted to study the music therapists’ lived-experience descriptions about their nonverbal interactions with persons with dementia. Focus group transcripts were analyzed by a phenomenological approach, and the findings elaborated and peer validated by the use of musical improvisation as an arts-based analytic approach. The findings included five themes: vitality, disciplined subjectivity, attunement, therapeutic presence, and validation. The music therapists were guided by the vitality of the person with dementia, were aware of their own reactions, and sensed the needs of the person through disciplined subjectivity. They attuned to the person’s nonverbal musical parameters (e.g., tempo pitch and volume) and cocreated an open and mutual field through therapeutic presence and validation. The findings are relevant for future development of direct and indirect music therapy practice but contain limitations due to a homogenous and small group of participants. This study highlights the challenges of exploring nonverbal and musical interactions with the use of language-based methods of inquiry.


2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-139
Author(s):  
Manuel de Jesús Hernández Ramírez ◽  
Erika Yovana González Martín ◽  
Ashlye Melannie Fuentes Rodríguez ◽  
Suleika Alelí Carranza López ◽  
Violeta Compeán Padilla ◽  
...  

Introduction: Death is a complex phenomenon, nurses in training may face the process of dying and death of people, which can generate diverse situations that represent their lived experiences. Objective: To understand the lived experience of the first contact with death during clinical practicum of nursing students at a public university.Methodology: Qualitative study with phenomenological approach. It was conducted from October 2020 to February 2021. Selection of participants by intentional sampling with information saturation with seven participants. Data collection through phenomenological interview; participants gave informed consent. The analysis was carried out through the three phases of Max Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological method (description, interpretation, description plus interpretation). Results: The students refer to having been faced with the phenomenon in a state of helplessness, blockage, uncertainty, and fear; as well as facing death in a professional and reflective manner in order to provide quality care. Discussion: Death is a natural process; however, the first experiences are diverse and can produce in the students a set of emotions that condition their capacity to act, the way of adapting and observing the needs that arise during this experience. Conclusion: The experiences of nursing students show that they have difficulties in facing death, but it was not an impediment to provide the necessary care; it is considered that a deeper preparation on the process of dying can be favorable for their performance as professionals. Introducción: La muerte es un fenómeno complejo, las enfermeras en formación pueden enfrentarse al proceso de morir y muerte de personas, lo que puede generar diversas situaciones que representan sus experiencias vividas. Objetivo: Comprender la experiencia vivida ante el primer contacto con la muerte durante prácticas clínicas de estudiantes de enfermería de una universidad pública.Metodología: Estudio cualitativo con enfoque fenomenológico. Se llevó a cabo de octubre del 2020 a febrero del 2021. Selección de participantes por muestreo intencional con saturación de información con siete participantes. Recolección de datos a través de entrevista fenomenológica; los participantes emitieron su consentimiento informado. El análisis se llevó a cabo por las tres fases del método fenomenológico hermenéutico de Max Van Manen (descripción, interpretación, descripción más interpretación). Resultados: Los estudiantes refieren haber estado frente al fenómeno en un estado de impotencia, bloqueo, incertidumbre y miedo; así como afrontaron la muerte de manera profesional y reflexiva para brindar cuidado de calidad. Discusión: La muerte es un proceso natural, sin embargo, las primeras experiencias son diversas y pueden producir en los estudiantes un conjunto de emociones que condicionan su capacidad de actuar, el modo de adaptarse y observar las necesidades surgidas durante esta experiencia. Conclusión: Las experiencias de los estudiantes de enfermería demuestran que tienen dificultades para afrontar la muerte, pero no fue un impedimento para brindar los cuidados necesarios; se considera que una preparación más profunda sobre el proceso de morir puede ser favorable para su actuar como profesional.


Curationis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Horn ◽  
Petra Brysiewicz

Background: Both non-governmental organisations and governmental organisations are very involved in the development and implementation of community empowerment programmes (CEPs). Because of various health issues within the community, 10 CEPs were launched in Ladysmith with a focus on addressing the particular needs of HIV-affected and -infected members. Of the 10 programmes, however, only four were deemed sustainable after five years.Objectives: The researcher explored the lived experiences of HIV community workers participating in two CEPs in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal in order to develop recommendations for CEPs.Method: Data were explored using a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Ten participants who had been involved in HIV CEPs for more than six months were identified and individual interviews were held.Results: Three themes emerged, namely, giving of yourself, maintaining sustainability and assisting the CEPs and community workers. Each of these themes also contained a number of subthemes. Exploring the lived experience of the community workers revealed that there are a number of ways in which to promote the sustainability of CEPs.Conclusion: The community should be involved in all aspects of the CEP and community workers must respect the community and their knowledge, experience and value systems.


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