It is estimated that more than 87,000 people live with dementia in Denmark and the number is expected to increase to more than 134,000 people in 2035. People with dementia gradually lose their cognitive and social functions, including memory, language, orientation, and practical functioning. Currently, there is no medical treatment that can seriously alter the underlying disease progression. This places great demands on the care provided to people with dementia and family caregivers. An important element is person-centered care based on information about individual values, wishes and preferences. But how is it best practiced if people with dementia to a limited extent, or perhaps not at all, can express their own wishes and preferences? And how are personal, relational and health professional considerations in the care of people with dementia being balanced? These are some of the questions that the project is interested in.
Purpose:
The aims of the project are to explore ethical challenges in life with dementia and examine how tools comprising ethics and literature can support people with dementia and their caregivers and help them handle the different ethical challenges they face throughout the trajectory of dementia.
Method:
In this study, an ethnographic fieldwork is conducted consisting of participant observation at three municipal institutions (an activity center, a somatic care unit and a dementia specialized care unit) and interviews with people with dementia, family- and professional caregivers. In addition, evaluation data is collected through observations at workshops and follow-up interviews.
Period of project:
June 2020 – February 2024
Articles from the project will be published regularly.
Collaborations and funding provider:
The PhD project is funded by The Velux Foundations.