Why Families Care: Sociology of Dementia

Why Families Care: Sociology of Dementia
Shu Kinoshita

186 mm x 130 mm
256 pages
JPY 2,300
ISBN 9784790717263
Pub date: February 2019

Dementia today requires care that is tailored to the patient’s life and personality. Because they know the patient so well, family members are troubled, resentful, and reflective. This book painstakingly depicts the family’s activities in understanding dementia, being led to caregiving, and rebuilding a relationship with the patient.

Points of Appeal
Realistic portrayal of patient family members
A sharp perspective that does not lean on the painful experience, but rather focuses the analysis on the conceptual operation of how people perceive the experience of caregiving through the experience of caregiving

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: New care, new problems
Chapter 1: Toward a conceptual analysis of dementia: What this book asks
Chapter 2: Noticing dementia: What is “wrong” and why?
Chapter 3: Working with patients: Toward “better care”
Chapter 4: Concerned/consulting: Reconstructing the norms
Chapter 5: Resentment of other caregivers: “privileged knowledge claim” by caregiving family members
Chapter 6: Living in the New Dementia Care Era: What Worries Reflect

Note
Conclusion
References
Person index
Index of Matters

Reviews
“As families strive for better care, they are forced to reflect on the patient’s past, that is, whether they knew the person’s life. ... Many readers will nod in agreement with the author’s elaborate argument.” ーSusumu Nomura, nonfiction writer

“The author says, ‘It is not that caregiving families are distressed because they cannot cope well with dementia, but that their distress is proof that the family respects the dementia patient.’ There are no better words of relief for families bearing a heavy burden.” ーJunya Tsutsui, sociologist

“The author asks, ‘Why is family caregiving so hard, and what is the source of that hardship?’ Without a proper understanding of these issues, it will never lead to happiness for both the caregiver and the recipient. ...The columns are placed at the end of the chapters. It is easy to read with many examples.” ーThe Japan Agricultural News

“I hope that many people involved in dementia care will pick up the book.” ーFumiko Ohgisawa, Clinical psychologist