This thesis considers whether the concept of resilience is applicable to people ageing with dementia; and, if so, what the implications are for social work practice. It begins with an exploration of the literature on dementia, resilience and social work. Using a symbolic interactionist approach it then details how the interactions of people with dementia and their social workers can potentially influence the realisation of resilience in practice. I collected data over a two year period. During this period six dyads comprising a person with dementia and social worker provided rich verbal accounts of their respective experiences. Using narrative analysis the stories of each person with dementia were explored to reveal threats to identity and possible resilience strategies. A resilience lens was applied to the verbal accounts of social workers in order to reveal opportunities and challenges to using resilience in practice. The findings indicate that identity continues to be of importance to people who are ageing with dementia. The preservation of identity could therefore be re-framed as the outcome of a resilience process. Each person could potentially acquire resources over their life which could help to mitigate threats to identity. This is referred to as the resilience reserve. This thesis details the potential domains of such a reserve. Further, it contains details of possible resilience strategies that a person with dementia might employ within stories of self. These strategies are placed within the context of protective and vulnerability factors in order that a resilience framework can emerge. This thesis argues for a re-framing of theories of what social work is. This, combined with a definition of resilience, and the development of a resilience practice framework could promote and realise the resilience of the person ageing with dementia.

Submitted by Emanuel Varela Cardoso (emanuel.varela@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-09-28T17:01:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL GOMES DA COSTA – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGDesign) 2018.pdf: 84255489 bytes, checksum: 479f455d64078fda5e0424d97cb8bfe3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-28T17:01:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL GOMES DA COSTA – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGDesign) 2018.pdf: 84255489 bytes, checksum: 479f455d64078fda5e0424d97cb8bfe3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-31 / Em face de transformações socioeconómicas apresentadas nas últimas décadas, mais precisamente pós-Guerra Fria, o papel do designer tem sido debatido. Fenómenos relacionados a Globalização, como a desglobalização e glocalização, tem pressionado ao exercício do designer uma abordagem mais responsável, que atenda aos anseios sociais contemporâneos, sobretudo de respeito a diversidade cultural (BONFIM, 1990). Portanto em meio a estas novas demandas, frente ao processo projetual de novos produtos, este estudo visa qualificar e promover o debate relacionado ao processo de tomada de decisão voltado ao desenvolvimento de objetos que venham a atender estas novas prerrogativas identitárias e simbólicas. Considerando o benefício de como impor e expor localidade a estes em seu processo de desenvolvimento, ou seja, estabelecer parâmetros para a análise do apelo identitário por parte de seu projetista, na escolha de protótipos que mais se adequem aos atributos identitários pré-estabelecidos. Contando com o plausível meio de auxílio, uma vez que o mesmo se traduz em um conjunto de métodos e técnicas perduráveis de subsídio a tomada de decisão com maior respaldado, a área de Apoio Multicritério à Decisão. Quanto à metodologia utilizada, realizou-se uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório, descritivo e quali-quantitativo (mista), utilizando-se de caso único e decisivo, com múltiplas unidades de análise, como principal meio de validação do modelo multicritério de análise identitária, estabelecido. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram a operacionalização positiva do modelo multicritério de análise identitária de produtos com atributos locais, viabilizada pela exploração bibliográfica referente a tríade "design x cultura x identidade local" atrelada a abordagem multicritério de apoio a decisão. / In the face of socioeconomic transformations presented in the last decades, more precisely post-Cold War, the role of the designer has been debated. Globalizationrelated phenomena, such as de-globalization and glocalization, have pushed the designer's approach to a more responsible approach that meets contemporary social concerns, especially respect for cultural diversity (BONFIM, 1990). Therefore, in the midst of these new demands, in the face of the design process of new products, this study aims to qualify and promote the debate related to the decision-making process focused on the development of objects that will meet these new identity and symbolic prerogatives. Considering the benefit of how to impose and expose locality to them in their development process, that is, to establish parameters for the analysis of the identity appeal by their designer, in the choice of prototypes that best fit the preestablished identity attributes. Counting on the plausible means of aid, since it translates into a set of enduring methods and techniques for grant decision making with greater support, the area of Multicriteria Support to Decision. As for the methodology used, a research was exploratory, descriptive and quali-quantitative (mixed), using a single and decisive case, with multiple units of analysis, as the main means of validation of the multicriteria model of identity analysis, established. The results obtained evidenced the positive operation of the multicriteria model of identity analysis of products with local attributes, made possible by the bibliographic exploration referring to the triad "design x culture x local identity", linked to the multicriteria approach to decision support.