Slocombe2022

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Slocombe2022
BibType ARTICLE
Key Slocombe2022
Author(s) Felicity Slocombe, Elizabeth Peel, Alison Pilnick, Saul Albert
Title Keeping the conversation going: How progressivity is prioritised in co-remembering talk between couples impacted by dementia
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, memory, companions, co-rememberings, progressivity, dementia
Publisher
Year 2022
Language
City
Month oct
Journal Health
Volume
Number
Pages 13634593221127822
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/13634593221127822
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

This article explores how partners keep the conversation going with people living with dementia (PLWD) when speaking about shared memories. Remembering is important for PLWD and their families. Indeed, memory loss is often equated with identity loss. In conversation, references to shared past events (co-rememberings) can occasion interactional trouble if memories cannot be mutually recalled. This article analyses partners’ interactional practices that enable progressivity in conversations about shared memories with a PLWD. In previous research, both informal and formal carers have reported that they can find interacting with PLWD difficult. Identifying practices used by partners is one way to begin addressing those difficulties. Analytical findings are based on over 26 hours of video data from domestic settings where partners have recorded their interactions with their spouse/close friend who is living with dementia. The focus is on 14 sequences of conversation about shared memories. We show how particular practices (candidate answers, tag questions and single-party memory of a shared event) structure the interaction to facilitate conversational progression. When partners facilitate conversational progressivity, PLWD are less likely to experience stalls in conversation. Our findings suggest the actual recall of memory is less relevant than the sense of shared connection resulting from the conversational activity of co-remembering, aiding maintenance of individual and shared identities. These findings have relevance for wider care settings.

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