Living with dementia in rural and remote Scotland: Diverse experiences of people with dementia and their carers

There is a lack of research into people's experiences of using services as dementia sufferers themselves, or because they care for someone with dementia, in rural areas. This article explores their experiences in the context of rural Scotland, drawing on data gathered from both people with deme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of rural studies 2006-04, Vol.22 (2), p.161-176
Main Authors: Blackstock, K.L., Innes, A., Cox, S., Smith, A., Mason, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Caring
Community
community health
Dementia
Experience
Foreign Countries
Health care
Health Care Services
Health Services
Medical sociology
Mental Health
Mental illness
Rural Areas
Rural Communities
rural health
Rural studies
Rurality
Scotland
Service provision
Social policy
United Kingdom
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Summary:There is a lack of research into people's experiences of using services as dementia sufferers themselves, or because they care for someone with dementia, in rural areas. This article explores their experiences in the context of rural Scotland, drawing on data gathered from both people with dementia and their carers. Our research suggests that understanding the nuanced and co-constituted experience of dementia in rural communities is a pre-requisite for improving service provision. The paper explores the way in which participants linked their experiences to their spatial location in rural areas. Our findings suggest that participants used a narrative of idealised rurality which linked together interwoven and overlapping social networks, a physical relationship with place and a sense of self sufficiency. However, the participants’ stories also highlighted the diversity in experiences as service users between places, suggesting a disjunction between the generalising narrative of the rural idyll and their particular situations. These findings extend the literature on rural mental health issues and on the experience of dementia in particular, in turn helping to inform place and person centred policies.
ISSN:0743-0167
1873-1392
DOI:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2005.08.007