Lives in Transition: Meaning Making and the Early Experience of Alzheimer’s Disease

Over the last decade the rise of the person with dementia as a legitimate focus
of research, policy and practice attention has been one of the major advances in
the dementia care field. Whilst such progress is to be welcomed there remains
significant gaps in understanding that may impede the forging of genuine
partnerships with people with dementia and their families. Using grounded
theory (Glaser, 1978) and narrative interpretation as the main methodological
approach, this chapter will explore the meaning of assessment for a diagnosis
of Alzheimer’s disease as it was lived by those in the sample (N=15) who
attended a memory clinic in one health district in England.