Compassionate deception: An ethnographic study of how and why health professionals and family members lie when caring for people with dementia in Danish nursing homes

Abstract

This article uses the concept of compassionate deception to understand the complexity and duality at stake when health professionals and family members lie when caring for people with dementia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at two Danish nursing homes, we argue that compassionate deception conceptually illustrates the fine balance we observed of using lies and deception, while simultaneously acting with recognition and care towards residents. Ethical standards in dementia care do not recommend lying. Nonetheless, based on the practices and perspectives of health professionals and family members we direct ethnographic attention towards the intersections of caring and lying. Focusing on everyday social interactions and negotiations in the nursing home context, this study emphasizes the delicate balance between employing lies and deception, and fostering recognition in the context of dementia care. The study underlines the importance of taking the mundane care practices, the interpersonal relationships, as well as the work conditions and institutional pressure of health professionals into account when discussing care ethics in dementia.