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Voices of the elders: on creating aging-friendly communities from a member of the 'target population'
- Author:
- LEITCH Anne
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(2), Summer 2009, pp.66-67. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
The article is a reproduction of a post to the 'CollaborationCafé', an online forum for participants in Creating Aging-Friendly Communities, a free Web-based international conference produced by the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services in collaboration with Community Strengths. The writer laments her experience in a gated senior community when she instead wants to be engaged with the more world. She urges 'the experts' to design communities that can meet a person's needs while maximizing the individual's ability to contribute to the collective continuity of a community.
Caregiving as a process of changing identity: implications for caregiver support
- Authors:
- MONTGOMERY Rhonda J., KOSLOSKI Karl
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(1), Spring 2009, pp.47-52. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
The effort to support informal caregivers has not been a straightforward matter, primarily because most efforts to intervene have not addressed the variability in the caregiving experience. Caregiver Identity Theory views the caregiving career as a series of transitions that result from changes in the caregiving context (e.g., changing activity patterns, changes in the health of the care recipient). The identity change process can be thought of as entailing five possible phases of accommodation. Phase one occurs when the caregiver begins to perform caregiving activities that have not been part of his or her familial or friendship role in the past. Phase two occurs when the caregiver realises that his or her caregiving activities are starting to extend beyond the scope of the initial family or friendship role. Phase three may require activities with which neither the caregiver nor the care recipient is comfortable and that cause the caregiver to leave the caregiving role. As caregiving requirements increase, a further shift in identity is required (phase four), with caregiving coming to dominate the role relationship. Finally, phase five is reached when the care recipient is moved to a different setting and the caregiver turns over the primary responsibility for care to formal care providers. Implications for practice are discussed.
Uncertainties in dementia: what do people with dementia experience?
- Author:
- MAST Benjamin T.
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(1), Spring 2009, pp.30-36. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
A number of questions, challenges, and controversies exist in the research and practice community related to the feasibility of gaining access to the experience of dementia. Before investigating what individuals experience, we must consider the very feasibility of eliciting their experiences because the cognitive impairments of dementia may interfere with accurate self-assessment and the recollection and communication of experience. A renewed emphasis on personhood in dementia must address these challenges in gaining access to the experience of people with dementia across the stages of the condition. In early dementia, resolving questions surrounding the awareness of the affected person is critically important to understanding the experience of dementia, while the more severe cognitive and communication impairments of the later stages add additional challenges.
Don't forget about me! Decision making by people with dementia
- Authors:
- WHITLATCH Carol J., MENNE Heather L.
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(1), Spring 2009, pp.66-73. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
Research shows they are able to provide consistent responses to questions about a variety of preferences, even in advanced stages. Maintaining the autonomy of people with dementia is a difficult balancing act for their families and friends, who face many tough decisions. These decisions are often made on behalf of impaired relatives who at some point will become unable to make decisions on their own and vary depending on stage and type of illness. While maintaining the dignity, autonomy, and personhood of people with dementia is critical, it is equally important to balance the needs and preferences of the person with dementia with the ability of the family caregiver to ensure that those preferences are reflected in the care received. Although there are no easy answers to these challenges, this paper proposes alternatives and options to help families make decisions throughout the progression of a family member's dementia.
Losing function, staying connected: family dynamics in provision of care for people with dementia
- Authors:
- PODGORSKI Carol, KING Deborah A.
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(1), Spring 2009, pp.24-29. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
As the symptoms and care needs of the person with the condition change throughout the course of dementia, family dynamics manifest themselves and are affected in a number of ways. It is during the early and middle stages that families often realize that they can no longer care for their family member without assistance, and some families recognize the need for support for themselves as well. Examples of dilemmas and controversies are given and illustrated with case studies. Despite the gaps in understanding of family relationships across the long course of dementia, it is clear that families demonstrate strong bonds of attachment and a high degree of resilience as they cope with this devastating condition. It appears that the strength of family ties prior to the onset of dementia and the family member’s motivation for providing care are two of the most powerful predictors of outcomes for both the person with dementia and the caregiver.
Moving beyond place: aging in community
- Authors:
- THOMAS William H., BLANCHARD Janice M.
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 33(2), Summer 2009, pp.12-17. Published online.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
The current practice of institutionalising older people in need of care is undesirable because it consumes large quantities of financial capital while it also destroys reservoirs of social capital. Aging in place, with its dwelling-centric approach, relies heavily on dollar-denominated professional and paraprofessional services while offering older people little or no opportunity to create or deploy reserves of social capital. Aging in community presents a viable and appealing alternative to both approaches. Different types of communities are discussed.