How New Is the Image of Those with Dementia in 21st Century in Japan? an Analysis of TV Documentary Programs in the Nhk Data Archives

Introduction: From the late 1990s to the early years of this century, a new image of people with dementia (PWD) has been promoted in Japan. The willingness of PWD to speak publically about their thinking and desires around 2004 is considered a significant event. Afterward, their statements became a central issue in dementia care. The mass media and especially the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Cooperation), which produced television documentary programs on this subject, have promoted this trend.
 The event of 2004 has been definitely important in changing the image of PWD. However, the views and wishes of PWD have been uncovered and constructed in diverse way in each field of dementia care, and the NHK has reported some outstanding care practices. The empirical exploration of this image change is an issue in sociology. How has PWD been represented before 2000s? How are previous images related to the new image? This presentation explores the presentation patterns of those with PWD in NHK TV documentary programs produced between 1980 and 2003 with using following data.
Method: The NHK is now constructing and modifying its broadcast data archives and asking for participants to challenge some themes. As a participant, I obtained access to the video data systems for a year and created the following three types of data:
① a title and contents list of TV programs about dementia;
② documentation of the story, the contexts and scenes of each program; and
③ pictures of symbolic scenes in these programs.
Results: Two controversial descriptive patterns of the thoughts and wishes of those with PDW emerged. The first is that descriptions of these characteristics relate to problematic behaviors for caregivers. The second is that what PWD suffers think and feel are important in and of themselves and, therefore, sometimes conflict with the needs of caregivers.