On Recognition, Caring, and Dementia

The onset of dementia raises troubling questions. Does the person with dementia still recognize you? If someone cannot recognize you, can they still care about you? This essay takes such questions as the entry point for a broader inquiry into recognition, its linkages to care, and how claims to soci...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical anthropology quarterly 2008-12, Vol.22 (4), p.313-335
Main Author: Taylor, Janelle S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Children - psychology
Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Alzheimer's Disease
Caregivers
Caring
Children
Cognition
Compassion
Dementia
Dementia - physiopathology
Dementia - psychology
Dinner napkins
Disease Progression
Empathy
Ethnographic research
Family relations
Female
Friendship
Health Care Services
Humans
Intergenerational Relations
Male
Medical anthropology
Memory
Mental health
Mothers
Parents
Parents - psychology
Participant observation
Perception
Political philosophy
Politics
Recognition
Recognition (Psychology)
Senility
Sensory perception
Skilled Nursing Facilities
U.S.A
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The onset of dementia raises troubling questions. Does the person with dementia still recognize you? If someone cannot recognize you, can they still care about you? This essay takes such questions as the entry point for a broader inquiry into recognition, its linkages to care, and how claims to social and political "recognition" are linked to, or premised on, the demonstrated capacity to "recognize" people and things. In the words and actions of her severely impaired mother, the author finds guidance toward a better, more compassionate question to ask about dementia: how can we best strive to "keep the cares together"?
ISSN:0745-5194
1548-1387
DOI:10.1111/j.1548-1387.2008.00036.x