Stories of (Im)Mobility: People Affected by Dementia on an Acute Medical Unit

Abstract

This chapter draws on doctoral research that interrogates the mobility/immobility power imbalances through co-created video stories, both verbal and embodied, of people affected by dementia whilst they are inpatients on an acute medical unit. Immobility of the person shapes the processes of medical care. The person becomes a passive, immobile recipient of care provided by a moving, connected professional working in a hospital that relies on the movement of patients through and out of the physical building. The person arrives at the door of the hospital emergency department, enters and becomes a patient. Their clothing is removed and they are placed upon a trolley. The sides of the trolley are raised. The patient moves on the trolley for investigations. The patient is wheeled on their trolley along corridors to the acute medical unit and later on to a ward, and often another ward. Within wards beds are shifted around as the hospital dictates, the patient on their bed moves again. It is apparent that mobility is a crucial element in the constitution of the hospital, but it is not the patient that has ownership of this mobility. This very act of moving through the doors of a hospital brings with it a significant change in power and status. Moving in the opposite direction to the patient another person crosses into the hospital and dons a uniform. The mere act of crossing that boundary and changing clothes empowers this person. They can enforce immobility. Once disempowered and immobilized stories are no longer heard. People tell of travel in time and space and person; emotions and personhood are expressed. But time is needed to listen and the mobile ward does not stop. Thus, to interrogate mobility is also to consider the social transformations it produces and the power imbalances it perpetuates. Utilizing data from a recent research study, this chapter explores mobility and immobility within an acute hospital setting from the perspective of patients with dementia. It is argued that mobility defines the hospital and its staff, whereas immobility defines everyday life for patients with dementia.