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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Intergenerational Choir Formed To Lessen Alzheimer’S Disease Stigma In College Students And Decrease The Social Isolation Of People With Alzheimer’S Disease And Their Family Members A Pilot Study, Phyllis Harris, Cynthia Caporella Apr 2014

An Intergenerational Choir Formed To Lessen Alzheimer’S Disease Stigma In College Students And Decrease The Social Isolation Of People With Alzheimer’S Disease And Their Family Members A Pilot Study, Phyllis Harris, Cynthia Caporella

Phyllis Braudy Harris

The intergenerational choir was formed for the purpose of combating the stigma of Alzheimer's disease in college students, and in that process also lessening the social isolation of people with AD and their family members. The choir was composed of 13 college students and 13 people with AD and a family member. Data from the college students were gathered through semi-structured open-ended questions on attitudes and knowledge about AD, collected at three points in time over 8 weeks of rehearsals. Data were collected from the people with AD and their family members through a focus group and observations over 8 …


Dementia And Friendship: The Quality And Nature Of The Relationships That Remain., Phyllis Harris May 2013

Dementia And Friendship: The Quality And Nature Of The Relationships That Remain., Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

Friendships are an integral part of the human experience. Yet, dementia often takes a toll on social relationships, and many friends withdraw. This research, however, focuses on friendships that remain, despite a diagnosis of dementia. It examines the quality of the friendships of people with dementia and long-term friendships. Data were collected through focus group interviews with people with early stage dementia and their care partners, and through interviews with designated friends. The findings show that people with dementia do have friends that remain and they have a wide variety of friendships, from those based on one shared activity to …


Wisdom, Resilience And Successful Aging: Changing Public Discourses On Living With Dementia, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady Jan 2013

Wisdom, Resilience And Successful Aging: Changing Public Discourses On Living With Dementia, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady

Phyllis Braudy Harris

No abstract provided.


The Journal's 10 Year Anniversary - Looking Back And Moving Forward, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady Jan 2013

The Journal's 10 Year Anniversary - Looking Back And Moving Forward, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady

Phyllis Braudy Harris

No abstract provided.


Another Wrinkle In The Debate About Successful Aging: The Undervalued Concept Of Resilience And The Lived Experience Of Dementia, Phyllis Harris Jan 2013

Another Wrinkle In The Debate About Successful Aging: The Undervalued Concept Of Resilience And The Lived Experience Of Dementia, Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

The concept of "successful aging" is a contested discourse in gerontology. Two conflicting paradigms dominate the discussion: a health promotion activity model, and a model critical of the concept of successful aging. However, this study takes a different perspective and proposes that perhaps we have been striving for the wrong goal. The true quest as we age should not be for successful aging, but our goal should be for resilience, an undervalued and not fully examined concept in aging. Developing resilience is possible for many older adults regardless of social and cultural backgrounds or physical and cognitive impairments, unlike successful …


Family Matters, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady Jan 2013

Family Matters, Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Keady

Phyllis Braudy Harris

No abstract provided.


Maintaining Friendships In Early Stage Dementia: Factors To Consider, Phyllis Harris Dec 2011

Maintaining Friendships In Early Stage Dementia: Factors To Consider, Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

Friendships and the importance of social connectiveness play a critical role in aging well, regardless of gender, race, social class, or impairment. Yet, dementia takes its toll on social relationships, and many friends withdraw and ‘disappear’, because they can no longer bear to see the changes that are taking place in their diagnosed friend. The dementia care literature documents this abandonment; however, this study examines the opposite occurrence. In order to understand more clearly the role of long-term friendships and how such friendships remain and continue, despite the diagnosis of dementia, this qualitative study examines in depth eight people in …


People With Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease As Mentors: Developing A Truly Collaborative Research Process, Phyllis Harris Dec 2006

People With Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease As Mentors: Developing A Truly Collaborative Research Process, Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

Mentoring can take many shapes and forms. However, rarely in the research arena is the participant of a study ever considered as being a mentor, a person capable of providing advice and guidance, and certainly not a participant who has a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because of the progressive debilitating nature of the condition and the resulting stigmatization and marginalization of the person, someone with AD is not often thought of in the role of a mentor. Yet, this article focuses on such a mentoring relationship, which developed by happenstance, in the process of doing research on and with …