Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
Listening to Alzheimer's: The Role of Social Location in Illness Narratives

Listening to Alzheimer's: The Role of Social Location in Illness Narratives

Renee L. Beard, Maureen K. O'Connor
Copyright: © 2017 |Pages: 32
ISBN13: 9781522507789|ISBN10: 1522507787|EISBN13: 9781522507796
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0778-9.ch031
Cite Chapter Cite Chapter

MLA

Beard, Renee L., and Maureen K. O'Connor. "Listening to Alzheimer's: The Role of Social Location in Illness Narratives." Gaming and Technology Addiction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, edited by Information Resources Management Association, IGI Global, 2017, pp. 684-715. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0778-9.ch031

APA

Beard, R. L. & O'Connor, M. K. (2017). Listening to Alzheimer's: The Role of Social Location in Illness Narratives. In I. Management Association (Ed.), Gaming and Technology Addiction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 684-715). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0778-9.ch031

Chicago

Beard, Renee L., and Maureen K. O'Connor. "Listening to Alzheimer's: The Role of Social Location in Illness Narratives." In Gaming and Technology Addiction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, edited by Information Resources Management Association, 684-715. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0778-9.ch031

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite

Abstract

After outlining major trends in the literature base, highlighting the shortcomings, and suggesting future areas of study, this chapter calls for including more sociological analysis, namely attention to social location, in research on the individual's changing perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease (AD), or AD narratives. Rather than assuming that illness experiences can be universalized, variables such as race/ethnicity, marital status, class, gender, religiosity, and age as well as the roles of mass media and medicine, matter deeply in how AD is interpreted and experienced. This chapter proposes that psychosocial studies of the topic need to systematically explore at least five areas: 1) comprehensive illness narratives, including the potential positive aspects, 2) the role of sociodemographic variables, 3) the narrative transformations throughout the illness trajectory, 4) the bioethical implications of diagnosing individuals increasingly earlier, and 5) the impact of institutional forces like mass media and modern medicine on illness narratives.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.