Ethox and WEH Seminar - Authenticity and citizenship in people living with dementia in a care home

Abstract

What is it to be "authentic" or true to yourself? What is it to be a "citizen"? Although these ideas are complicated, they are also straightforward aspects of our lives: we naturally try to be true to ourselves and we are naturally part of a community. But these things can also be difficult, especially when our very sense of self is under threat, which it can be for people living with dementia. If we find ourselves living in a care home, our authentic selves and our participation as citizens comes under even more threat. I shall talk about these issues and about a small study we have done looking at how an artist contributed to authenticity and citizenship in a care home in the North East of England.

Biography

Julian C. Hughes is RICE Professor of Old Age Psychiatry in the University of Bristol, honorary consultant at the Royal United Hospital Bath and in the Avon and Wiltshire NHS Mental Health Trust. He is also currently Deputy Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.