Humour in people living with dementia and their partners
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the shared experience of humour in people living with dementia and their partners
IRAS ID
151418
Contact name
Helen Irwin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Humber NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
There are many associated psychological and physiological health benefits of humour and research has begun to explore the use of humour in chronic illnesses to understand how people cope and live well with these illnesses. Despite this, the use of humour by people living with dementia, an increasingly common illness in the ageing population, has been seldom studied. This may have remained a gap in the literature because of the stigma attached to dementia and the fear of trivialising the experience of living with dementia. However within the existing research on what it is like to live with dementia there are references made to the use of humour. Humour has been recognised as a social phenomenon and thus may be an important mechanism to understand in the current drive to offer a relationship-centred approach to care in dementia. This study aims to address the gap in the literature and explore the experience of humour within the person with dementia and partner relationship.
Design:
An exploratory study of the experience of humour in living with dementia. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted, generating qualitative data, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to derive the results.Participants:
The study aims to recruit 8-10 dyads i.e. the person with dementia and their partner whom they are living with. The participants will be recruited on a volunteer basis from both the NHS and voluntary sector across Hull and York.Method:
The participant dyads will take part in a semi-structured interview together where they will be asked about their experience of using humour in living with dementia.Research Aim:
To explore the shared experience of humour in the lives of people living with dementia and their partners.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/0199
Date of REC Opinion
28 May 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion