Anna Ekström

Living with dementia - communication, relationships and cognition

Project leader: Lars-Christer Hydén, IKOS, funded by Forte.

Living with dementia becomes a reality for an increasing number of individuals, families and communities in Sweden, and therefore it is necessary to ask how one can live a good life with dementia. The reason is demographic - we live longer and get older, and thus the number of people living with dementia increases.

The biomedical model of dementia focuses on cognitive and neurological disabilities in order to manage the disease and to provide medical treatment.
The present program presents a different perspective on dementia: the focus is on what people with dementia can do, and the importance of social networks and the environment for increasing social inclusion and participation.
Through four distinct, but integrated projects, addressing four areas that are crucial to living a good life with dementia:

1. how can joint activities be organized in order to maximize participation and inclusion
2. how can the personal expertise that many people with dementia have be developed, and become a mainstay of the person centered care
3. the importance of the external resources, such as ICT, in order to improve and facilitate communication for people with dementia
4. the importance of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the meetings with people with dementia, both within and outside of health care.

Communicating emotions, embodying morality:

A sociocultural perspective on affective and moral socialization in families and in early education

Project leader: Asta Cekaite, Child studies, funded by Vetenskapsrådet.