Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward
The needs of individuals who receive a diagnosis of dementia can be complex, and can pose a challenge to those who care for them. Discourses around the construct of dementia have evolved over time, which has influenced care practices and policies. The way that healthcare professionals construct deme...
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English |
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2019
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56625/ |
| _version_ | 1848799356345384960 |
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| author | Matkin, Hannah |
| author_facet | Matkin, Hannah |
| author_sort | Matkin, Hannah |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The needs of individuals who receive a diagnosis of dementia can be complex, and can pose a challenge to those who care for them. Discourses around the construct of dementia have evolved over time, which has influenced care practices and policies. The way that healthcare professionals construct dementia may have important implications for the care that is provided. This article uses naturally occurring talk from an acute organic assessment and treatment ward to explore how staff construct dementia. A Foucauldian form of discourse analysis was used to analyse talk from fifteen multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. In this article we present a reading of this talk, where dementia is constructed as: an unstable inner state that can fluctuate in severity, an illness that will inevitably progress, and a condition that can take away a person’s insight. Implications for care resulting from these discourses is considered through examining the subject positions that were made available. A final discourse relevant to care practices was identified, where healthcare professionals resisted a dominant medical discourse, which opened up space for hope and innovative care practices. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:34:22Z |
| format | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| id | nottingham-56625 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:34:22Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-566252025-02-28T14:30:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56625/ Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward Matkin, Hannah The needs of individuals who receive a diagnosis of dementia can be complex, and can pose a challenge to those who care for them. Discourses around the construct of dementia have evolved over time, which has influenced care practices and policies. The way that healthcare professionals construct dementia may have important implications for the care that is provided. This article uses naturally occurring talk from an acute organic assessment and treatment ward to explore how staff construct dementia. A Foucauldian form of discourse analysis was used to analyse talk from fifteen multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. In this article we present a reading of this talk, where dementia is constructed as: an unstable inner state that can fluctuate in severity, an illness that will inevitably progress, and a condition that can take away a person’s insight. Implications for care resulting from these discourses is considered through examining the subject positions that were made available. A final discourse relevant to care practices was identified, where healthcare professionals resisted a dominant medical discourse, which opened up space for hope and innovative care practices. 2019-12-05 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56625/1/RPV%201819%204240566%2014497827%20Research%20Project%20Portfolio%20Volume%20I%20Discourses%20of%20Dementia.pdf Matkin, Hannah (2019) Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward. DClinPsy thesis, University of Nottingham. Dementia Healthcare professionals Constructions Discourse analysis Foucault Power |
| spellingShingle | Dementia Healthcare professionals Constructions Discourse analysis Foucault Power Matkin, Hannah Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title | Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title_full | Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title_fullStr | Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title_full_unstemmed | Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title_short | Holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| title_sort | holding out for hope: discourses of dementia and their implications for care on an acute organic assessment and treatment ward |
| topic | Dementia Healthcare professionals Constructions Discourse analysis Foucault Power |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56625/ |