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Dementia, Vol. 6, No. 4, 507-525 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1471301207084368

Dignity work in dementia care

Sketching a microethical analysis

Linda Örulv

Linköping University, Sweden, linda.orulv{at}tema.liu.se

Nina Nikku

Linköping University, Sweden, ninni{at}tema.liu.se

This study is concerned with issues of dignity in dementia care, in situations where staff members handle potential or actual conflicts and interaction problems between residents. Based on empirical data consisting of observations and video recordings, various coping strategies are identified in regard to whether or not, as well as when and how to interfere. Microethical analysis is used in order to discuss these coping strategies in relation to contextual conditions and ways of understanding, and values or aspects of dignity are highlighted. In dialogue with empirical data, nuances of ethical considerations are approached that are otherwise difficult to access analytically — thereby opening the door to a more reflective way of dealing with problematic situations in dementia care.

Key Words: coping strategies • conflict solving • ethics • ethnography • microethics

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This Article
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