Cultural diversity, dementia & person-centred care: a study of Scottish care homes

Introduction
This abstract presents a study of cultural diversity and dementia in Scottish care homes. Research took place in six homes, to gain insights into how considerations of cultural diversity are incorporated into maintaining selfhood in ‘person-centred’ care.

Methods
The literature was searched for ‘aspects of care’ intrinsic to person-centred/culturally-effective approaches. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were then used to gather data in the field. This was subjected to Spradley’s (1980) ’cultural domain analysis’, in identifying the discursive themes which influenced care processes. Parker’s (1992) ’discourse analysis’ method was then used to link these discourses to local and national sociocultural influences.

Results
Quality of care for people with dementia in these settings was found to be influenced by many discourses, some easily identifiable, but many ‘disguised’.

Conclusion
Intersections of culture and processes of care are poorly understood, but can influence lived experience greatly. Further work is necessary in moving towards true ‘person-centred’ care approaches.