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Fragmented Existence: Living Alone with Dementia and a Manifest Care Need

Fragmented Existence: Living Alone with Dementia and a Manifest Care Need

Rune Svanström
Copyright: © 2015 |Pages: 25
ISBN13: 9781466684782|ISBN10: 146668478X|EISBN13: 9781466684799
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8478-2.ch013
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MLA

Svanström, Rune. "Fragmented Existence: Living Alone with Dementia and a Manifest Care Need." Psychosocial Studies of the Individual's Changing Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease, edited by Cordula Dick-Muehlke, et al., IGI Global, 2015, pp. 302-326. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8478-2.ch013

APA

Svanström, R. (2015). Fragmented Existence: Living Alone with Dementia and a Manifest Care Need. In C. Dick-Muehlke, R. Li, & M. Orleans (Eds.), Psychosocial Studies of the Individual's Changing Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease (pp. 302-326). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8478-2.ch013

Chicago

Svanström, Rune. "Fragmented Existence: Living Alone with Dementia and a Manifest Care Need." In Psychosocial Studies of the Individual's Changing Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease, edited by Cordula Dick-Muehlke, Ruobing Li, and Myron Orleans, 302-326. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2015. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8478-2.ch013

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Abstract

Drawing on prior research by the author, this chapter presents the experience of persons with dementia who lived alone and had a manifest care need. By applying the life-world perspective and the theory of intentionality to the findings, the author broadens our understanding of how people with advanced dementia experience life. More specifically, life with dementia appeared to be characterized by a gradual loss of meaning due to impaired intentionality. Participants faced increasing difficulties in understanding the meaning of the everyday objects and chores, which ultimately affected the sense of space, time, language, and the body. Our findings suggest that persons with dementia fight disturbed intentionality and try to create meaningfulness, an effort that becomes extremely difficult and strenuous over time. Home care that takes everyday objects and chores as a point of departure has the potential to help persons with dementia anchor themselves in the concrete everyday world.

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