More than a medical condition: Qualitative analysis of media representations of dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

The aim of our research is to explore how Alzheimer's disease and dementia are represented in the Slovak media. Data consisted of text documents from the Newton media database. Search criteria included TV, radio, print and web sources that mentioned the words "Alzheimer"and "dementia"between 2015 and 2018. A thematic discourse analysis was applied in order to identify the themes and their mutual semantic relations. The analysis was focused primarily on the headlines (n = 227). The results show that the biomedical perspective currently dominates at the expense of a socio-psychological one. Persons with Alzheimer's disease and dementia are represented as tragic cases and victims of a cruel disease. Responsibility for care and prevention is individualized. Our findings suggest that a new perspective is needed. Such an approach should recognize the dignity and humanity of persons with Alzheimer's disease and dementia despite their cognitive deficits and respect their socio-psychological needs.