Clark, Andrew, Ward, Richard, Campbell, Sarah, Keady, John, Kullberg, Agneta, Manji, Kainde, Odzakovic, Elzana and Rummery, Kirstein (2023) Experiences and contributions of people living with dementia to the social life of everyday places. In: Keady, John, (ed.) Reconsidering Neighbourhoods and Living with Dementia: Spaces, Places, and People. Reconsidering Dementia Series . Open University Press - McGraw-Hill Education, Maidenhead, pp. 28-49. ISBN 0335251722; 978-0335251728; 978-0335251735; 0335251730

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Abstract

This chapter focusses on work programme 4 of the Neighbourhoods study entitled ‘Neighbourhoods: Our People, Our Places’ (N:OPOP). We used a creative mix of qualitative methods, including network mapping, mobile interviews, and home tours with people living with dementia and their care partners in England, Scotland, and Sweden. We focused explicitly on the subjective meaning of neighbourhoods for people living with dementia with a view to understand how people could be better supported to live in community settings. Neighbourhoods matter to people with dementia because of the type of support they can offer, and this chapter presents insights into how and why this might be the case. Neighbourhoods can enable people living with dementia to develop and sustain connections, maintain a sense of belonging, and contribute to the diversity and inclusivity of local places. Neighbourhoods are not simply fixed locations within which activities happen but are an amalgamation of connections to people and other places over time, understood and experienced in the context of other locations and times. Drawing on our published work (Ward et al., 2021 a, b, c) , this chapter considers how people living with dementia are not passive observers of neighbourhood life but, instead, engage in the social rhythms of neighbourhoods and, with support, actively shape them as neighbourhoods of choice, though with such choices are often restrained by contexts and circumstances. The chapter is presented as follows. First, we provide a brief overview of some of allied research that has explored the importance of neighbourhoods spaces as sites for social interaction for people living with dementia.. Next, it outlines the ways in which we gathered and analysed our data. It then presents three interconnected ‘snapshots’ of our findings exploring: i) neighbourhoods as assemblages of connections; ii) neighbourhoods as real and symbolic sites of support; and iii) understanding neighbourhoods and change in the context of living with dementia. The chapter then outlines how our findings might influence thinking about: neighbourhoods as relational places; how neighbourhoods might contribute to social health; and how people living with dementia can, with support, engage in neighbourhoods of choice. Collectively, these themes point to the relevance of understanding the ‘lived neighbourhood’ for people living with dementia.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	dementia; neighbourhoods; community; social care
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing
Last Modified:	26 Oct 2023 14:18
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/44628

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