Methods
A standardised measurement tool was developed by identifying aspects of self
that can be measured, and research methods that are effective at investigating
self in people without dementia. The measure consists of three sets of
illustrated ‘I am…’ statements representing Activities, Traits and Physical
Characteristics, and Relationships and Occupations. Participants were asked to
(i) sort these according to whether each was ‘just like me’, ‘a bit like me’ or ‘not
at all like me’ (ii) sort their ‘just like me’ choices to identify the statement most
like them; (iii) describe memories associated with this statement. The measure
was tested with 20 people with dementia to inform refinement. The refined
measure was tested for reliability and validity by comparing results from five
people with dementia and six age-matched people without dementia.
Results
Outcome measures were strength, complexity and quality of self and an
‘episodicity’ score reflecting the descriptive richness of memories. The initial
administration to 20 people indicated that the measure was suitable for people
with mild to moderate dementia, and the outcomes were meaningful and
reliable. An ‘Observational Framework’ was developed to enable measurement
of self via gestures and expressions of people with limited verbal abilities. The
second study indicated that the new measure has good test-retest reliability, but
convergent validity was not demonstrated. Participants with dementia
demonstrated strength, complexity and quality of self scores comparable to
participants without dementia. The results suggest that providing visual cues
bypasses the cognitive processes required for effortful recall. / Alzheimer’s Society
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18499 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Bradley, Rosemary J. |
| Contributors | Smith, Sarah J., Oyebode, Jan, Surr, Claire A. |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Faculty of Health Studies |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, MPhil |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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