Autobiographical accounts of living with dementia: Life story narration as self-care

Abstract

Based on statements from people with dementia on the positive impact of reflecting on one's own biography, this study examines the ways in which life story narration can help those affected make sense of a disrupted present and a fragmented life characterised by forgetfulness. In this paper we analyse both oral and written accounts of everyday life as told by people living with dementia. In doing so we apply a heuristic based on the notion of key (auto)biographical strands in order to make clear how the individuals in question link their current experience of dementia with previous experiences and thereby revise the way they see themselves. Whether this occurs in an erratic, associative manner or in a more structured and connected fashion, there are varied ways in which people with dementia come to an emotional and cognitive appreciation of their life. The main aim of the analysis is not to establish biographical accuracy but rather to identify elements of self-care: a creative act of appropriating one's own life story, and the communicative presentation of a self-image.