[Xmca-l] Re: Memory, aging and culture

[Larry Purss]

Peter,
Your comment, that Columbia is in *THIS SENSE RICH* while the common
practice of housing  the elderly in Britain is alienating and deadly lonely
seems to be the central *germ*.  *Rich* then may be an analogy for
*flourishing* or *right relation* and we return once more to the way we
construct antinomies around possessive self-will and mastery and freedom
which contrast with other more communal notions of flourishing.

The cultural expectations developed around persons who live alone may also
partially explain why they need to keep driving to keep their
*independence* [keep connected].
China, with it's one child policy and the vast migrations to the city is an
*experiment* that is now having profound repercussions for the elderly as
they are living alone which contrasts with previous values. [and as China
becomes richer]
Larry






On Mon, Dec 9, 2013 at 12:46 AM, peter jones <h2cmng@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi Mike, All
>
> I can't identify a literature but am sure there is one (culturally
> orientated) out there such is the prospective scale of the challenges.
> Emerging you would hope?
>
>
> In Feb 2011 I gave a presentation and workshop in Paipa, Colombia. I used
> a case study of an elderly lady living alone.
> Very common here in the UK and yet the audience in Colombia could not
> really identify with this scenario.
> The family would assure the well-being of their family member, except in
> extremis.
> In this sense the culture in Colombia could be said to be 'rich' in
> comparison with the loneliness and alienation frequently experienced in the
> UK.
>
>
> Mental health services in the UK have lost 1700 beds in the past two years
> (Health Service Journal) due to austerity measures. This might mean family
> have a 30 mile or more trip to visit a relative in hospital.
>
>
> There are studies that espouse a role for telecare to facilitate people
> maintaining their independence with other sources of support.
>
> You might refer to the health policy debate and eventual emergence of a
> 'dementia strategy' or other governmental response as measure of some sort?
>
> In terms of the sciences and political (mechanistic) domains of Hodges'
> model, governments (e.g. UK) needs to know how prevalent the problem is.
> Therefore the emphasis is still upon diagnosis, or more accurately
> 'screening'.
>
> I have advocated for more local use of geographic information systems -
> GIS to consider such activities. For example, which family doctors are
> referring people, which are not and if so why not?
>
> There is a fascinating question(?) in what a culture considers
> 'challenging behaviour'? With this is 'tolerance' of individuals, through
> to family and communities. When medical language is introduced then 'sense
> making' is radically altered (of course)?
>
> The cultural impacts are yet to be fully realised and if there is a
> connection with diabetes may be even greater than thought (without
> scaremongering)?
>
>
> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029453.400-are-alzheimers-and-diabetes-the-same-disease.html#.UqWAnOLm72k
>
> The cultural expectations around driving could also be very interesting,
> having the grace to give up the car when the time comes. This will (is) not
> easy for a great many people.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
> Peter Jones
> Lancashire, UK
> Blogging at "Welcome to the QUAD"
> http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
> Hodges Health Career - Care Domains - Model
> http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/
> h2cm: help 2C more - help 2 listen - help 2 care
> http://twitter.com/h2cm
>
>
>
> On Monday, 9 December 2013, 0:47, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Facinating.
> The link between involvement in cultural practices as a function of
> age/health and memory
> seems to have opened up a lot of considerations of common interest. As
> Geraldine suggests
> word meaning is a central phenomenon associated with memory loss and Peter
> reveals
> himself as deeply involved in the issues that Laure's question provoked.
> And look at the
> geographic/temporal distribution of this concentrated "intelligence."
>
> Peter, is there a literature on cultural differences in partterns of say,
> dementia, or Alzheimers, when societies adopt our most civilized practices?
> Clearly you are pointing toward a shift in the kinds of issues changing
> demographics will pose socially and economically, which I think requires a
> corresponding shift in cultural practices and their associated meanins.
>
> Am I tracking this right?
> (Asked the old man, speaking of dimentia)
>  :-))
> mike
>
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 8, 2013 at 3:53 PM, peter jones <h2cmng@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Culturally one of the factors must be what is 'home'?
> >
> >Another extends beyond cultural perception to involve politics and
> policy. With an ageing population we (health services - private as well as
> public) need older adults to retain their independence and if needed to be
> cared for at home and to die at home and not in hospital.
> >
> >
> >The following may help in specifics around dementia.
> >
> >http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/349714/13/dementia%20specialist%20nurses.pdf
> >
> >Culturally are we ready for more people to die at home?.
> >
> >I also blogged this w/e about residential care and deprivation of liberty:
> >
> >
> http://hodges-model.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/reading-and-writing-minutia-of-locked.html
> >
> >There are other posts on dementia & memory which may illuminate several
> dimensions.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >
> >Peter Jones
> >Lancashire, UK
> >Blogging at "Welcome to the QUAD"
> >http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
> >Hodges Health Career - Care Domains - Model
> >http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/
> >h2cm: help 2C more - help 2 listen - help 2 care
> >http://twitter.com/h2cm
> >
> >
> >
> >On Sunday, 8 December 2013, 21:49, Martin John Packer <
> mpacker@uniandes.edu.co> wrote:
> >
> >I suspect that 'memory loss' with age also depends on cultural
> *practices* of memory. I know couples where one person is largely
> responsible for remembering things for both. In the US, the UK and
> elsewhere we tend to put old people in institutions where no one knows
> their history, whereas in cultures where old'uns continue to have a place
> in the family, their relatives know what they need to recall and can do so
> for them, or help them do so.
> >
> >Martin
> >
> >
> >On Dec 8, 2013, at 12:43 PM, Laure Kloetzer <laure.kloetzer@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Mike,
> >>
> >> I agree the question was quick and fuzzy,
> > sorry. I wonder to what extent
> >> the extended complaint on memory loss (especially loss of episodic
> >> memories, related to specific events of one's life) by people who are
> >> getting old in our current societies is related to cultural factors
> >> (including social expectations towards a precise memory, esp. relating
> to
> >> one's own life events, and anxiety to get old, including fear of
> Alzheimer
> >> pathology, for example). We know that the way we sleep, our sleeping
> >> cycles, are influenced by our culture. I guess our perception of our
> memory
> >> performance and accuracy is also influenced by cultural factors, and I
> >> wonder if some colleagues have been working on these topics. Which
> cultural
> >> dimensions worsen or improve the situation regarding memory problems and
> >> aging ?
> >> Thanks for your help !
> >> Best regards,
> >> LK
> >>
> >>
> >> 2013/12/8 mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
> >>
> >>> What does the term, cultural perceptions mean, Laure? The answer to
> that
> >>> question would help a lot in answering your questions.
> >>> mikec
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sun, Dec 8, 2013 at 12:44 AM, Laure Kloetzer <
> laure.kloetzer@gmail.com>wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Hi,
> >>>>
> >>>> I am looking for references on aging, and how memory loss is affected
> by
> >>>> cultural perceptions. Would you have some references to point me to ?
> >>>> Best,
> >>>> LK
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
>