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3 - (Mis)alignment at Dementia Diagnosis

A Window into Differing Expectations, Perceptions and Agendas in the Memory Clinic

from Part 2 - Dementia and Diagnostics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2024

By
Jemima Dooley  and
Rose McCabe
Edited by
Peter Muntigl ,
Charlotta Plejert  and
Danielle Jones
Peter Muntigl
Affiliation:
Universiteit Gent, Belgium
Charlotta Plejert
Affiliation:
Linköpings Universitet, Sweden
Danielle Jones
Affiliation:
University of Bradford
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Summary

This chapter explores how differing expectations and experiences manifest in diagnostic interactions in the memory clinic. We do this by microanalysing communication in dementia diagnosis feedback meetings, focusing on instances of misalignment between doctors and the person living with dementia. We examine three videos from a dataset of 101 recordings from two areas in the UK, collected as part of the ShareD study. We present different interactional contexts where the person receiving a dementia diagnosis choose to align or misalign with the doctors’ interactional projects of diagnosis delivery, prescribing medication and recommending support. Examination of these instances suggests that misalignment between the assessment of symptoms may, at least in part, reflect interactional facework in the face of dementia as a challenge to self-identity.

Keywords

dementiadiagnosisConversation Analysismisalignmentface saving
Type
Chapter
Information
Dementia and Language
The Lived Experience in Interaction
 , pp. 50 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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