[Three levels of communication of people with senile dementia. An attempt to understand the 'life world' structured by people with senile dementia].
The aim of this paper is to study the communication of people with senile dementia for understanding the life-world structured by them. This research was conducted in special ward for senile dementia patients in the Aomori Prefectual Hospital, using the method of participant observation. The investigation period extended from September 1990 to August 1991 for a total of 62 days. First, the life-world of patients with senile dementia is described as follows: Patient' backgrounds, an outline of their everyday life in the institution. These patients have a serious intelligence disorder, therefore they have to live in a closed ward. However, the care system in the ward is very flexible so they are not restricted in their movements. An individual's ability to deal with the demands of everyday life is quite variable. And the quality of an individual's life is not limited to the sum total of his or her abilities. Second, the patients' communication processes are described. The procedure was as follows: The first step was to classify an individual's character and methods which they used to facilitate communication into five types. The second step was to illustrate their communication processes. There are many types of communication processes. But when we take notice of the essential qualities of their communications they fall into three basic patterns as follows: 1. Patients engaged in interactive connections in which the form, or the social fact of the interactions was valued over its narrative content. 2. During most communications each patient will inevitably experience a lack of comprehension. When this occurs they respond by introducing a new subject for discussion, or in other ways attempt to manipulate the interaction back to an area they understand. 3. Most interactions provoke intense interest among the other patient, who often gather to watch and comment among each other. In discussion, some common features that support humans' communication were studied through to compare the communication of people with senile dementia and normal people. In conclusion, the feature of their communication as exposure of the form not the content were explained.
Abo
J
J
D000368:Aged; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003142:Communication; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans