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The sense of self is vulnerable in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and might be positively and negatively influenced by research participation. The purpose of this study was to describe how people with AD express their experience of being a research participant with respect to their sense of self. Interviews and support group conversations involving 13 people with mild and moderate AD were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Three themes were constructed: contributing to an important cause, gaining from participating, and experiencing risks and drawbacks. Participants described contributing to research as being in line with their lifelong values and lifestyles. They expressed contentment and pride about being research participants, emphasized their positive relationships with the researchers, and described participation as a meaningful activity. When research procedures threatened their sense of self, they were able to reason about risks and decline participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The aim of the study was to deepen the understanding of how older persons living in a nursing home experience life close to death. Background A move to and a life in a nursing home while being close to death is a reality for many older people in Sweden. Being able to express thoughts and feelings about death has been described as both crucial for sustaining personhood as well as for establishing a meaningful existence at the end of life. Important are the experiences of older people living in nursing homes who are approaching death. Method Six older people were interviewed on one to four occasions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with the participants. An interpretative approach was chosen. Findings The main interpretation, Feeling lonely in an unfamiliar place, is based on three themes (i) Waiting for death , with the subthemes death as a release and thinking of oneself as dead; (ii) Subordinate oneself to values and norms of the staff , with the subthemes feeling offended and feeling trapped; and (iii) Keep the courage up. The older people's lives were characterised by feelings of aloneness in an unfamiliar place which contributed to a sense of existential loneliness. They experienced few opportunities to discuss their thoughts of life and death, including preparations for passing away. Conclusion and implication for practice It is of importance for professionals to be able to meet older people as they are and respect them as human beings in their transitions, before, during and after the move to a nursing home. It is important to find ways to support older people's wellbeing and identity near death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self is constructed in cooperation with other people and social context influences how people perceive and express it. People with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) often receive insufficient support in constructing their preferred selves, but little is known about how they express themselves together with other people with AD. In accordance with Harré’s social constructionist theory of self, this study aimed to describe how five people with mild and moderate AD express their Self 2 (i.e., their personal attributes and life histories) in a support group with a facilitator experienced in communicating with people with AD. The participants’ expressions of their Self 2 were analyzed with qualitative abductive content analysis and interpreted in terms of agency and communion and a lack of agency and communion. The findings highlight the importance of supporting a sense of agency and communion when assisting people with AD in constructing their self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of caring relationship directed to the elderly as experienced by district nurses. Twelve district nurses were interviewed in the form of a dialogue. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The text was analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach inspired by Paul Ricoeur who describes the interpretation of a text as a dialectical movement between understanding and explanation. The interpretation of the text reveals that the meaning of caring relationship is friendship and caring communion that is founded in the local community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

hansebo g. & kihlgren m. (2004) Journal of Advanced Nursing 45(3), 269–279 Nursing home care: changes after supervision An intervention project was conducted in three nursing home wards in Sweden. Most patients had severe dementia. The intervention consisted of supervision for individualized and documented nursing care, based on multidimensional assessment. To illuminate changes in carers’ approach after the intervention. Several data collections were conducted across the intervention and consisted of nursing documentation, patient life stories as told by carers, video recorded interactions, stimulated recall interviews and a questionnaire. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the analyses. The findings from the different methods mirrored each other and added to the credibility of the intervention. Communicated knowledge about patients improved in nursing documentation and also as told by carers. Carers were differently skilled in managing the complexity of nursing care situations before as well as after the intervention, but the intervention contributed to developing carers in ‘confirming nursing care’. They also improved in their ability to verbalize reflections about their everyday life with patients with dementia. Supervision made it possible for carers to share their lived experiences about their day-to-day life with patients, which could promote personal and professional development and thus improve care quality. It also appeared that a detailed assessment tool used as part of the nursing process contributed to seeing a patient as a real person behind a dementia surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]