Memorandum:Discourse-analytical research of dementia communication

According to Alzheimer’s disease International there were almost 47 million people with dementia worldwide in 2015. This number will substantially increase in the coming decades. Additionally, the number of people dealing with the disease (such as relatives and caregivers) is three times as high as the number of people with dementia. The stigma around dementia has a negative impact on almost all medical challenges, such as a timely diagnosis and accepting care. Besides the mental, physical and emotional consequences, the disease also has enormous societal, legal and financial implications. Communicating these aspects gets more difficult as the disease progresses. In the project, we will first analyse how Alzheimer’s is explained through different sources. In a second phase, we will look at communication (skills) of people with dementia. Our research will eventually lead to how to improve communication and will provide training sessions for different target groups.