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BestsellerE-book
Author Beard, Renée L., author.

Title Living with Alzheimer's : managing memory loss, identity, and illness / Renée L. Beard.

Publication Info. New York : New York University Press, [2016]
©2016

Item Status

Description 1 online resource
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary News of Alzheimer's disease is constantly in the headlines. Every day we hear heart-wrenching stories of people caring for a loved one who has become a shell of their former self, of projections about rising incidence rates, and of cures that are just around the corner. However, we don't see or hear from the people who actually have the disease. In Living with Alzheimer's, Renée L. Beard argues that the exclusively negative portrayals of Alzheimer's are grossly inaccurate. To understand what life with memory loss is really like, Beard draws on intensive observations of nearly 100 seniors undergoing cognitive evaluation, as well as post-diagnosis interviews with individuals experiencing late-in-life forgetfulness. Since we all forget sometimes, seniors with an Alzheimer's diagnosis ultimately need to be socialized into medicalized interpretations of their forgetfulness. In daily life, people with the disease are forced to manage stigma and the presumption of incompetence on top of the actual symptoms of their ailment. The well-meaning public, and not their dementia, becomes the major barrier to a happy life for those affected. Beard also examines how these perceptions affect treatment for Alzheimer's. Interviews with clinicians and staff from the Alzheimer's Association reveal that despite the best of intentions, pejorative framings of life with dementia fuel both clinical practice and advocacy efforts. These professionals perpetuate narratives about "self-loss," "impending cures," and the economic and emotional "burden" to families and society even if they do not personally believe them. Yet, Beard also concludes that in spite of these trends, most of the diagnosed individuals in her study achieve a graceful balance between accepting the medical label and resisting the social stigma that accompanies it. In stark contrast to the messages we receive, this book provides an unprecedented view into the ways that people with early Alzheimer's actively and deliberately navigate their lives.
Contents 1. Meaning of Memory Loss: Illness, Identity, and Biography -- 2. History and Technoscience: From Senility to Alzheimer's -- 3. Constructing Facts in Clinical Practice: Interpreting, Diagnosing, and Treating Memory Loss -- 4. Being Cognitively Evaluated: Learning to Medicalize Forgetfulness -- 5. Hearing "the A Word": The Road to Becoming an Alzheimer's Patient -- 6. Everyday Life with Diagnosis: The New Normal -- 7. Advocating Alzheimer's: Biomedical Structures and Social Movements -- 8. Forget Me Not: The Future of Alzheimer's.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease -- Patients -- Care.
Alzheimer's disease -- Patients -- Care.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Beard, Renée L. Living with Alzheimer's. New York : New York University Press, [2016] 9781479800117 (DLC) 2015043570 (OCoLC)926743416
ISBN 9781479855377 electronic book
1479855375 electronic book
9781479800117
1479800112
9781479889808
1479889806