Muistisairauteen liittyvä stigma osana muistisairaiden ihmisten sosiaalisen kuoleman riskiä

Advanced dementia and moving to a nursing home affect the social life of an older person in many ways. The social network may become significantly narrower due to both advancing disease and moving to a new place of residence. In an extreme situation, the situation can lead to social death when the person is no longer considered worthy of interaction. In addition, dementia is strongly associated with stigma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the intertwining of stigma and social death through interviews conducted in nursing homes with family members of older persons (N=19). The results showed that people with dementia who receive round-the-clock care have a risk of experiencing social death and that the risk was strongly influenced by stigmas related to the disease, such as assumptions about the disease’s effect on the ability to function, human needs, behavior, and social identity. The stigma became visible especially through social exclusion and inadequate care. In the round-the-clock care of people with dementia, efforts should be made to reduce the stigma associated with dementia, which could also reduce the likelihood of social death.