Conceptual analysis of “dementia” among family caregivers in Japanese SHGs

In this presentation, I examine “dementia” as the concept, which indicates “who” and “how to” remedy troubles about care. I analyze data collected through participant observations and interviews in self-help groups (SHGs) that family caregivers of the demented elderly attended. I emphasize the following four points. First, if elderlies are represented as “the demented,” they are exempted from the responsibility of remedying troubles. Second, assigning such responsibilities to “family caregivers” implies that they must provide care by considering that people with dementia “cannot think logically, while their emotional abilities are preserved”. Third, people with dementia are regarded as “innocent” or “harmless” as a result of this categorization. Fourth, by participating in SHGs, family caregivers can develop a new frame of interpretation for “troubles to remedy” in dementia.