title: Doing dementia better: anthropological insights.
abstract: Dementia, or neurodegenerative disease, is a disease category, and yet it is widely described in popular and professional media as a horror story. Patients with dementia and their families frequently report that they are less than pleased with their clinical encounters. This article reveals the deleterious impact that cultural assumptions about dementia have on the care provided, and, through an exploration of anthropological theories of personhood, suggests strategies for seeking improved quality of life through personhood-centered care.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Medicine Program, MAHEC (Mountain AHEC), Asheville, NC 28804, USA. Liz.castillo@mahec.net
authors.forename: Elizabeth Herskovits
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Castillo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D000883:Anthropology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D028723:Personhood; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012106:Research; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D014481:United States