Perspectives on living and working with dementia

This thesis explores perspectives on living and working with dementia. Chapter one reviews the literature related to the experience of dementia and identity. Themes within theoretical and empirical papers are identified which contribute to an understanding of how the available information can be utilised to inform clinical work with people with dementia. It is argued that maintaining the integrity of a person with dementia's identity is possible and important for well-being, however, more research is needed to establish what 'identity work' should contain and when it should be delivered. Directions for future research are discussed. Assessment and diagnosis have been identified as being difficult aspects of work by clinicians in areas of healthcare, such as oncology, and as crucial to the experience of clients with memory problems. Despite this, and the importance of understanding the experience of staff members to support recruitment, retention and staff well-being, research exploring the experience of clinicians of assessing and diagnosing clients within dementia services is lacking. Chapter two therefore uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the experience of staff members who perform this role. Themes are identified that highlight the complex nature of this role and the conflicting aspects of it. Participants appeared to be trying to meet conflicting needs within the context of a progressive illness and service restrictions, which influenced their perceived effectiveness and caused conflict and stress. Clinical and service implications are discussed and suggestions for future research made. Chapter three utilises the author's experience of completing the research presented in chapter two to reflect on tensions between the roles of researcher and clinician. How these roles can come into conflict with each other and the implications of this for the research process is explored.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo