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Towards a Theory of Dementia Care: Personhood and Well-being

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Tom Kitwood  and
Kathleen Bredin
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Abstract

Some foundations are laid for a social-psychological theory of dementia care. Central to this is a conceptualisation of personhood, in which both subjectivity and intersubjectivity are fully recognised. Evidence is brought forward concerning relative well-being even in those who are, from a cognitive standpoint, severely demented. In the light of this it is argued that the key psychological task in dementia care is that of keeping the sufferer's personhood in being. This requires us to see personhood in social rather than individual terms.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , September 1992 , pp. 269 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

Notes

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