'Making the best you can of it': living with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
Drawing upon data from a qualitative study of persons who are in the early stage of the condition, this paper examines the meaning of Alzheimer's disease. It contrasts the meaning of the disease as portrayed in popular culture with its meaning as interpreted by persons living with it. Findings show that persons with the illness do not necessarily accept the negative cultural meaning of the disease, nor the helpless 'victim' role in which they are generally cast. With a determination to 'make the best of it', strategies such as humour, normalisation, present-time orientation, and life review are employed to create a meaningful life.
Macrae
Hazel
H
Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada. hazel.macrae@msvu.ca
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002170:Canada; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged