“Please call my daughter”: Ethical practice in dementia care as an art of dwelling

Abstract

This article aims to extend the current understanding of ethical practice within a dementia context, in which people living with dementia are often taken for granted as mere beneficiaries of care, rather than as co-producers in day-to-day care practice. Building on a decade of voluntary work and a year of fieldwork (including six weeks' intensive observation of nightlife) at a Jewish care home in London, I pay attention to the affective dimension of ethical practice at the moment of sleep disturbance of a resident with dementia. Inspired by Heidegger's concept of dwelling, I understand the episode not as pathological, but as a process through which ethical subjects emerge in the making of ongoing, entangled ethical endeavors. I argue that ethical practice is neither predetermined nor random: rather, it is the way in which those involved continuously respond and attune to the ever-changing circumstances: what I call an 'art of dwelling'.

Exploring person-attuned musical interactions in dementia care: A flexible design

“…Dwelling is, according to Heidegger (1951Heidegger ( /1971, to remain and stay in place in a relationship with existence characterized by care. People with dementia can, due to the cognitive degeneration, be challenged in dwelling and need to be supported by caregivers (Jeong, 2020).…”

“…Based on the findings in study 1, attunement is perceived as a positive phenomenon that can bring two people closer to each other. Attunement is, nevertheless, a concept that is not very frequently used in dementia research, and the meanings of which can be very diverse, depending on the context in which the concept is applied (Ahmed, 2014;Heidegger, 1927Heidegger, /2004Jeong, 2020). This diversity and the various connotations of the word can make it difficult to articulate the characteristics of attunement and to implement it into practice.…”

“…In dementia care, an essential element of caregiving is to be present and to show concern for the other (Ellis & Astell, 2017;Kitwood, 1997). Using the terminology of Heidegger, the caregiver may help the person with dementia to dwell in being-in-the-world (1927/2004), even when the person might feel alienated from their surroundings due to the symptoms of dementia (Jeong, 2020). This affective 9 aspect of caregiving is sometimes underestimated and not considered; even though the well-being of the care recipient is highly dependent on the caregivers' empathic engagement (Alsawy et al, 2017;Banerjee et al, 2015;Ellis & Astell, 2017;Ward et al, 2008).…”