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Boyle, Geraldine
(2014).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2014.910108
Abstract
People with dementia have been assumed to possess weak or even no agency, so this paper provides a novel contribution to academic debate by examining their actual potential for agency. The author draws on findings from a qualitative study of everyday decision-making by people with dementia that aimed to identify the role of social factors (such as gender) in influencing their involvement in decisions. Whilst decision-making constitutes a form of deliberative agency, the research also identified when agency was alternatively habituated, embodied or emotional. The Economic and Social Research Council-funded research was undertaken in the North of England. Existing theoretical perspectives on agency are critiqued, particularly in relation to rationality, language and individualised agency. The study highlighted that people with dementia who lack deliberative capacity can nonetheless demonstrate creative capacity for agency. A more expansive concept of agency is needed in social science theory that is informed by the experiences of cognitively disabled people.
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About
- Item ORO ID
- 40970
- Item Type
- Journal Item
- ISSN
- 1360-0508
- Project Funding Details
-
Funded Project Name Project ID Funding Body The social process of everyday decision-making by people with dementia and their spouses. RES-062-23-2038 ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) - Keywords
- dementia; cognitive disability; agency; decision-making capacity
- Academic Unit or School
-
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care > Nursing
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) - Copyright Holders
- © 2014 Taylor & Francis
- Depositing User
- Geraldine Boyle