Alzheimer's disease, personhood, and intervention

Authors

Julie Goyder, Edith Cowan University

Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Faculty

Faculty of Regional Professional Studies

School

School of Regional Professional Studies / Centre for Sustainable Regional Futures

RAS ID

8952

Comments

Goyder, J. (2009). Alzheimer's disease, personhood, and intervention: A perspective. Alzheimer's Care Today, 10(4), 183-188. Available here

Abstract

The notion of personhood has made its way into Alzheimer’s disease care interventions since the publication of Tom Kitwood’s book, “Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First.”2 The irony is that many of these interventions reinforce the “patient” status of people with Alzheimer’s disease and may objectify people with Alzheimer’s disease in dehumanizing ways. This is because any intervention is, to some extent or another, a controlling, coercive—and sometimes invasive—grouping mechanism that relies on an already-there cultural construction of “otherness.”