Deceptive Practices in Managing a Family Member with Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Deception in the Alzheimer family shares characteristics with deception in a variety of other settings, in that it becomes routinized and contextualized. However, deception in the Alzheimer family is utilized toward the end of informal social control rather than primarily for information control. A key differentiating feature of the Alzheimer context is the gradually diminishing mental capacity and awareness of the person with the disease. This four‐year longitudinal study, involving participant observation of a caregivers' support group and in‐depth interviews of its members, examines how deceptive practices are learned; the various forms such practices take, including two‐party deception and collusion with others; and conflict posed for the caregiver between treating the family member with dignity and coping with the daily ordeal of managing in the home.

Lying in dementia care: An example of a culture that deceives in people's best interests

“…Clearly, such a finding highlights the importance of defining the concept of lying in a clear and comprehensive manner. Table 4 outlines Blum's (1994) categorisation of lying with some illustrative examples.…”

The experience of lying in dementia care

“…Overall, care givers of persons with Alzheimer's disease rationalize that the use of deceptive practices is in everyone's best interests. 9 Lies are told to ease the resident's distress, family's distress, improve compliance and to save time. 12 Typically, lies were told to ease the residents' distress when they asked to see either 'an absent/deceased spouse/friend/pet, or to leave the care setting to go home/work' and 'to improve care/medications compliance'.…”

Jo Campling Memorial Prize Essay (Undergraduate)

“…Blum (1994) acknowledges several categories of deceptive practice, and what she considers to be lying in this situation. These include, 'Going along' with the person's reality, stating, for example, that the relative will be there soon or has called to say that they are coming later.…”