Constructing dementia in discourse

Introduction: Research on the discursive construction and representation of dementia has mainly focused on often problematic public mainstream discourses in which persons living with dementia (PWD) and their family care partners (FCPs) usually do not get a voice. This study aims to highlight differences between public mainstream and FCPs’ discourses, in order to provide a more differentiated picture based on detailed linguistic analysis. Method: The study analyzes FCPs’ discursive construction of PWD and their own role in the caring process in forum interaction in Talking Point, a public support platform managed by the Alzheimer’s Society (UK). The study applies a combination of categories well established in qualitative (Critical) Discourse Analysis, namely, semantic topoi and the so far less often utilized semantic category of clusivity. Results: The study reveals that FCPs, although resorting to some of the problematic mainstream discourses, exploit a more finely grained range of lifeward-oriented alternative discourses contesting dominating mainstream discourses.