Autonomy and dignity of patients with dementia: Perceptions of multicultural caretakers

Abstract

The conceptualization of human dignity may vary among different cultural groups. It may also influence the extent to which the caretaker holds a full-fledged perception of the patients' autonomy.

Caring in nursing homes to promote autonomy and participation

“…The interest in the other person’s life situation 39 is important to promote good care directed by ethical decision-making based on ethical values such as respect for older people’s dignity, personal values and view of life as discussed by Frilund et al 40 in order to provide person-centred care. 41 Since the choices made can compromise or improve the experience in everyday life, 42 cultural differences between the residents and the healthcare personnel in a multicultural society 43,44 need to be considered. Furthermore, differences in desires according to the wide age range of older people described by the RNs in this study need to be considered.…”

“A Little Bit of Their Souls”: Investigating the Concept of Dignity for People Living With Dementia Using Caregivers’ Blogs

“…This has implications for the provision of family-focused care for people living with dementia and their families. Dignifying health care could be defined as care that is flexible to the needs or desires of people with dementia and promotes personal autonomy (Bentwich et al, 2018;Heggestad et al, 2013). This supports the current emphasis on person-centered care (Ballard et al, 2018;Bosco et al, 2019;Buron, 2008;Downs & Lord, 2017;Kim & Park, 2017), which is known to improve quality of life and would be congruent with dignifying care given the focus on personal values (Brooker, 2005) and the recognition that people living with dementia still have their own lives (Heggestad et al, 2013(Heggestad et al, , 2015Kane & de Vries, 2017).…”

“…How this care is delivered and managed has a significant impact on the well-being of the person living with dementia. Dignity provides a lens through which this wellbeing and quality of care provided can be viewed, particularly as it relates to how the person is treated as a human being (Aydın Er et al, 2018;Bentwich et al, 2018;Nordenfelt, 2004;Šaňáková & Čáp, 2019). The perceived value of the person with dementia by others was a consistent theme within the analysis and related to abrogation of the dignity of the person living with dementia.…”

“…While the concept of dignity in health care settings has been explored from the perspectives of patients, health care professionals, or both (Hasegawa & Ota, 2019;Tranvåg et al, 2013), dignity among communitydwelling older adults has been explored less frequently (Black & Dobbs, 2015;Jacelon & Choi, 2014). The majority of the community-focused work conducted in this area has occurred in the United Kingdom, where the government has a specific initiative to maintain dignifying care of older adults (Kinnear et al, 2015;Tauber-Gilmore et al, 2018), which can be defined as care that is flexible to the needs or desires of people with dementia and promotes personal autonomy (Bentwich et al, 2018;Heggestad et al, 2013).…”

Factors affecting user participation for nursing home residents with dementia: a critical interpretive synthesis

“…Nursing homes are multicultural workplaces. Bentwich et al (2018) explored whether gaps exist between carers from different ethno-cultural groups regarding their perceptions of the autonomy and human dignity of patients with dementia. Twenty formal caretakers participated in the qualitative part of this study, and approximately 200 caretakers were included in the quantitative part.…”