“There is life after diagnosis”: Dementia, leisure, and meaning-focused coping

While dementia research has tended to focus on the area of caregiving for the person with dementia, less is known about how individuals living with memory loss access and use leisure to cope and adjust upon receiving a diagnosis. Limited research demonstrates that despite negative discourse surrounding dementia, persons living with it find creative ways to cope with change. Indeed, several positive outcomes associated with a diagnosis of dementia have been identified. However, the role of leisure in meaning-focused coping among persons with dementia has not been considered. Interviews, participant observation, and photovoice with four persons with early stage dementia revealed that leisure contributed to five aspects of meaning-focused coping, including benefit finding, benefit reminding, adaptive goal processes, reordering priorities, and infusing ordinary activities with meaning (Folkman, 2008). The findings highlight the importance of leisure participation for coping in positive ways after diagnosis, and as such, are relevant to leisure service providers in understanding the abilities of persons with dementia and how leisure is used to cope with the changes accompanying diagnosis