In the United States individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) are faced with multiple threats to their social lives and to their sense of self. Such threats include the assumption that our sense of self is entirely dependent upon cognition and memory, elements that become impaired in AD (Kontos 2006) and images of Alzheimer's disease as the death before death (Behuniak 2011). The move to a long term care setting with its simultaneous stripping away of possessions that supply one with personal identity also poses such a threat. Although, individuals with ADRD who move to long term care may experience a decrease in the quantity of personal possessions they will continue to be surrounded by objects.
This anthropological study employed theories of Bourdieu (1990) and Malafouris (2008) along with concepts from Schiffer (1999) to ethnographically examine the relationship between individuals with ADRD and their engagement with the material world and how this may substantiate the self and personhood of people with ADRD in long term care settings. Using these conceptual models, I examine how the multi-modal experience of four common recurring activities, bring together objects, language, ideas and bodies to accomplish a shared activity.
By taking such an approach we can better understand how sociocultural constructions of dementia along with long term care policies, practices and environments create a structure that imposes certain constraints and possibilities on the way the self is made, unmade and re-made. Understanding how policies and practices are materialized within everyday activities can aid in the development of care practices and environments that support the self and personhood of individuals with ADRD.
","abstract_html":"<p>In the United States individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) are faced with multiple threats to their social lives and to their sense of self. Such threats include the assumption that our sense of self is entirely dependent upon cognition and memory, elements that become impaired in AD (Kontos 2006) and images of Alzheimer's disease as the death before death (Behuniak 2011). The move to a long term care setting with its simultaneous stripping away of possessions that supply one with personal identity also poses such a threat. Although, individuals with ADRD who move to long term care may experience a decrease in the quantity of personal possessions they will continue to be surrounded by objects. </p> <p> This anthropological study employed theories of Bourdieu (1990) and Malafouris (2008) along with concepts from Schiffer (1999) to ethnographically examine the relationship between individuals with ADRD and their engagement with the material world and how this may substantiate the self and personhood of people with ADRD in long term care settings. Using these conceptual models, I examine how the multi-modal experience of four common recurring activities, bring together objects, language, ideas and bodies to accomplish a shared activity. </p> <p> By taking such an approach we can better understand how sociocultural constructions of dementia along with long term care policies, practices and environments create a structure that imposes certain constraints and possibilities on the way the self is made, unmade and re-made. Understanding how policies and practices are materialized within everyday activities can aid in the development of care practices and environments that support the self and personhood of individuals with ADRD.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Yatczak, Jayne Marie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Anthropology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sherylyn Briller"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:39Z","subjects":["Alzhemier's disease","Long-term Care","Material Engagment theory","Practice Theory","Medicine and Health Sciences","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/981","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sherylyn Briller"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Yatczak, Jayne Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Anthropology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Alzhemier's disease","Long-term Care","Material Engagment theory","Practice Theory","Medicine and Health Sciences","Social and Cultural Anthropology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/981"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the United States individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) are faced with multiple threats to their social lives and to their sense of self. Such threats include the assumption that our sense of self is entirely dependent upon cognition and memory, elements that become impaired in AD (Kontos 2006) and images of Alzheimer's disease as the death before death (Behuniak 2011). The move to a long term care setting with its simultaneous stripping away of possessions that supply one with personal identity also poses such a threat. Although, individuals with ADRD who move to long term care may experience a decrease in the quantity of personal possessions they will continue to be surrounded by objects.
This anthropological study employed theories of Bourdieu (1990) and Malafouris (2008) along with concepts from Schiffer (1999) to ethnographically examine the relationship between individuals with ADRD and their engagement with the material world and how this may substantiate the self and personhood of people with ADRD in long term care settings. Using these conceptual models, I examine how the multi-modal experience of four common recurring activities, bring together objects, language, ideas and bodies to accomplish a shared activity.
By taking such an approach we can better understand how sociocultural constructions of dementia along with long term care policies, practices and environments create a structure that imposes certain constraints and possibilities on the way the self is made, unmade and re-made. Understanding how policies and practices are materialized within everyday activities can aid in the development of care practices and environments that support the self and personhood of individuals with ADRD.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Exploration Of The Use Of Objects In The Creation, Maintenance, And Social Performance Of Self Among People With Alzheimer's Disease And Related Disorders"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sherylyn Briller"],"dc:creator":["Yatczak, Jayne Marie"],"dc:date.available":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In the United States individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) are faced with multiple threats to their social lives and to their sense of self. Such threats include the assumption that our sense of self is entirely dependent upon cognition and memory, elements that become impaired in AD (Kontos 2006) and images of Alzheimer's disease as the death before death (Behuniak 2011). The move to a long term care setting with its simultaneous stripping away of possessions that supply one with personal identity also poses such a threat. Although, individuals with ADRD who move to long term care may experience a decrease in the quantity of personal possessions they will continue to be surrounded by objects.
This anthropological study employed theories of Bourdieu (1990) and Malafouris (2008) along with concepts from Schiffer (1999) to ethnographically examine the relationship between individuals with ADRD and their engagement with the material world and how this may substantiate the self and personhood of people with ADRD in long term care settings. Using these conceptual models, I examine how the multi-modal experience of four common recurring activities, bring together objects, language, ideas and bodies to accomplish a shared activity.
By taking such an approach we can better understand how sociocultural constructions of dementia along with long term care policies, practices and environments create a structure that imposes certain constraints and possibilities on the way the self is made, unmade and re-made. Understanding how policies and practices are materialized within everyday activities can aid in the development of care practices and environments that support the self and personhood of individuals with ADRD.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/981"],"dc:subject":["Alzhemier's disease","Long-term Care","Material Engagment theory","Practice Theory","Medicine and Health Sciences","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"dc:title":["An Exploration Of The Use Of Objects In The Creation, Maintenance, And Social Performance Of Self Among People With Alzheimer's Disease And Related Disorders"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Anthropology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:39Z"}