Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Beard, Renée L.
Titre(s) : Living with Alzheimer's [Texte imprimé] : managing memory loss, identity, and illness / Renée L. Beard
Publication : New York : New York university press, cop. 2016
Description matérielle : xi, 324 pages ; 24 cm
Comprend : Prologue: Lost in translation ; The meaning of memory loss: illness, identity, and
biography ; History and technoscience: from senility to Alzheimer's ; Constructing
facts in clinical practice: interpreting, diagnosing, and treating memory loss ;
Being cognitively evaluated: learning to medicalize forgetfulness ; Hearing "the
A word": the road to becoming an Alzheimer's patient ; Everyday life with diagnosis:
the new normal ; Advocating Alzheimer's: biomedical structures and social movements
; Forget me not: the future of Alzheimer's.
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references and index
News of Alzheimer's disease is constantly in the headlines. Every day we hear heart-wrenching
stories of people caring for a loved one who has become a shell of their former self,
of projections about rising incidence rates, and of cures that are just around the
corner. However, we don't see or hear from the people who actually have the disease.
In Living with Alzheimer's, Renée L. Beard argues that the exclusively negative portrayals
of Alzheimer's are grossly inaccurate. To understand what life with memory loss is
really like, Beard draws on intensive observations of nearly 100 seniors undergoing
cognitive evaluation, as well as post-diagnosis interviews with individuals experiencing
late-in-life forgetfulness. Since we all forget sometimes, seniors with an Alzheimer's
diagnosis ultimately need to be socialized into medicalized interpretations of their
forgetfulness. In daily life, people with the disease are forced to manage stigma
and the presumption of incompetence on top of the actual symptoms of their ailment.
The well-meaning public, and not their dementia, becomes the major barrier to a happy
life for those affected. Beard also examines how these perceptions affect treatment
for Alzheimer's. Interviews with clinicians and staff from the Alzheimer's Association
reveal that despite the best of intentions, pejorative framings of life with dementia
fuel both clinical practice and advocacy efforts. These professionals perpetuate narratives
about "self-loss," "impending cures," and the economic and emotional "burden" to families
and society even if they do not personally believe them. Yet, Beard also concludes
that in spite of these trends, most of the diagnosed individuals in her study achieve
a graceful balance between accepting the medical label and resisting the social stigma
that accompanies it. In stark contrast to the messages we receive, this book provides
an unprecedented view into the ways that people with early Alzheimer's actively and
deliberately navigate their lives
Sujet(s) : Alzheimer, Maladie d'
Alzheimer, Maladie d' -- Patients -- Santé et hygiène
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9781479800117. - ISBN 1479800112. - ISBN 9781479889808. - ISBN 1479889806
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45013726q
Notice n° :
FRBNF45013726
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
