The potential of life story work to add quality to dementia care is widely acknowledged. Whether this potential is always realised in practice and under what circumstances is less clear. This paper explores whether knowing the person’s life story enhances healthcare professionals’ understanding of the person with dementia and whether this understanding impacts on the person’s care. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 registered nurses and 12 healthcare assistants who had used life story work with people with dementia living in long-stay care settings. Data were analysed using the constant comparative technique. Engaging in life story work enabled staff to see the person behind the dementia. Understanding (as opposed to knowing) the person with dementia’s life story changed staff’s thinking on what is important when delivering care to people with dementia, with staff giving concrete examples of changes in how they delivered care to the person with dementia and what they considered important when delivering that care. It was concluded that life story work can facilitate a shift to person centred dementia care but how it is implemented matters if this outcome is to be achieved.
BrookerD.LathamI. (2016). Person-centred dementia care: Marking services better with the VIPS framework (2nd ed.).
London:
Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
2.
Brown Wilson, C. (2017) Caring for People with Dementia: A Shared Approach. London: Sage.
3.
BuronB. (2010).
Life history collages: Effects on nursing home staff caring for residents with dementia. Journal of Gerontological Nursing,
36(12), 38–48.
4.
ClarkeA.Jane HansonE.RossH. (2003).
Seeing the person behind the patient: Enhancing the care of older people using a biographical approach. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
12(5), 697–706.
5.
CooneyA.HunterA.MurphyK.CaseyD.DevaneD.SmythS.O’SheaE. (2014).
Seeing me through my memories’: A grounded theory study on using reminiscence with people with dementia living in long-term care. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
23(23–24), 3564–3574.
6.
CooneyA.O’SheaE.CaseyD.MurphyK.DempseyL.SmythS.DempseyL.JordanF. (2012).
Developing a structured education reminiscence-based programme for staff in long-stay care facilities in Ireland. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
22(13–14), 1977–1987.
7.
CorbinJ.StraussA. (2008). Basics of qualitative research (3rd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
8.
DunneT. (2016). Introduction. In KaiserP.EleyR. (Eds), Life story work with people with dementia: Ordinary lives, extraordinary people. (pp. 13–20).
London:
Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
9.
EdvardssonD.FetherstonhaughD.NayR. (2010).
Promoting a continuation of self and normality: Person-centred care as described by people with dementia, their family members and aged care staff. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
19(17–18), 2611–2618.
10.
EdvardssonD.WinbladB.SandmanP. O. (2008).
Person-centred care of people with severe Alzheimer’s disease: Current status and ways forward. The Lancet Neurology,
7(4), 362–367.
11.
EloS.KääriäinenM.KansteO.PölkkiT.UtriainenK.KyngäsH. (2014).
Qualitative content analysis: A focus on trustworthiness. Sage Open,
4(1), 1–10.
12.
GridleyK.BrooksJ.BirksY.BaxterK.ParkerG. (2016).
Improving care for people with dementia: Development and initial feasibility study for evaluation of life story work in dementia care. Health Services and Delivery Research,
4(23), 1–298.
13.
GrøndahlV. A.PerseniusM.BaathC.HelgesenA. K. (2017).
The use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia, their relatives and staff ? A systematic mixed studies review. BMC Nursing,
16(1), 28–11.
14.
HanseboG.KihlgrenM. (2000).
Patient life stories and current situation as told by carers in nursing home wards. Clinical Nursing Research,
9(3), 260–279.
KaiserP.EleyR. (2016). Life story work with people with dementia: Ordinary lives, extraordinary people.
London:
Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
17.
KellettU.MoyleW.McAllisterM.KingC.GallagherF. (2010).
Life stories and biography: A means of connecting family and staff to people with dementia. Journal of Clinical Nursing,
19, 1707–1715.
18.
KitwoodT. (1997). Dementia reconsidered.
Buckingham:
Open University Press.
19.
KitwoodT.BredinK. (1992).
Towards a theory of dementia care: Personhood and well-being. Ageing and Society,
12, 269–287.
20.
McKeownJ.ClarkeA.IngletonC.RyanT.RepperJ. (2010).
The use of life story work with people with dementia to enhance person-centred care: Use of life story work. International Journal of Older People Nursing,
5(2), 148–158.
21.
McKeownJ.ClarkeA.RepperJ. (2006).
Life story work in health and social care: Systematic literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing,
55(2), 237–247.
22.
MoosI.BjornA. (2006).
Use of the life story in the institutional care of people with dementia: A review of intervention studies. Ageing and Society,
26(03), 431–454.
23.
O’SheaE.DevaneD.CooneyA.CaseyD.JordanF.HunterA., … MurphyK. (2014).
The impact of reminiscence on the quality of life of residents with dementia in long-stay care: Reminiscence and dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,
29(10), 1062–1070.
24.
PattersonK. M.ClarkeC.WolversonE. L.Moniz-CookE. D. (2017). Through the eyes of others – The social experiences of people with dementia: A systematic literature review and synthesis. International Psychogeriatrics, January, 1–15.
25.
PenrodJ.YuF.KolanowskiF.FickD. M.LoebS. J.HupceyJ. E. (2007).
Reframing person-centered nursing care for persons with dementia. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice,
21(1), 57–72.
26.
SabatS. R.HarreR. (1992).
The construction and deconstruction of self in Alzheimer’s disease. Ageing and Society,
12, 443–461.
27.
SandelowskiM. (2010).
What’s in a name? Qualitative description revisited. Research in Nursing & Health,
33, 77–84.
28.
SmebyeK. L.KirkevoldM. (2013).
The influence of relationships on personhood in dementia care: A qualitative, hermeneutic study. BMC Nursing,
12(1), 29.
29.
SubramaniamP.WoodsB.WhitakerC. (2014).
Life review and life story books for people with mild to moderate dementia: A randomised controlled trial. Aging & Mental Health,
18(3), 363–375.
30.
SurrC. A. (2006).
Preservation of self in people with dementia living in residential care: A socio-biographical approach. Social Science & Medicine,
62(7), 1720–1730.
31.
ThompsonR. (2011).
Using life story work to enhance care. Nursing Older People,
23(8), 16–21.
32.
WoodsB.PrattR. (2005).
Awareness in dementia: Ethical and legal issues in relation to people with dementia. Aging & Mental Health,
9(5), 423–429.
