Identity & Dignity: How Walking Away Paralyzed from Abuse paved my Path of Soul-Discovery

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I think I’ve been quite healthy actually, so why did I have a stroke now, I don’t understand? I took my Warfarin and had staff who gave it to me, so I didn’t miss any. I don’t understand what happened. (Interview with resident, 88 years) WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens Everyone experiences changes to their sense of personal identity at times in their lives. Some of these changes can be difficult and painful; for new parents, for example, or at retirement, divorce or when losing a partner. Apart from the obvious loss of freedom, income or companionship, we may feel that our identity has shifted in a way that somehow downgrades us in the outside world. None of them fits easily into an institutional pattern. They can’t just be ‘slotted in’ to whatever local services currently offer. Mayer, Ann Elizabeth (2006). Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics. Westview Press. p.62. ISBN 978-0813343358.

Syeda was born 40 years ago in Bangladesh with multiple physical and learning disabilities. She is now in need of constant nursing care. Her extended family is very unwilling to agree to her admission to a nursing home. They say they have had bad experiences of health care in the UK, and fear her cultural and religious needs will be ignored. El Bernoussi, Zaynab (2014). "The postcolonial politics of dignity: From the 1956 Suez nationalization to the 2011 Revolution in Egypt". International Sociology. 30 (4): 367–382. doi: 10.1177/0268580914537848. S2CID 220723176. Hall S, Dodd RH, Higginson IJ. Maintaining dignity for residents of care homes: a qualitative study of the views of care home staff, community nurses, residents and their families. Geriatr Nurs. 2014;35:55–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2013.10.012I’m a different me today from the one I was six months ago. A different one from the one I was a year ago. I’m losing my sense of self, and that is more frightening than anything. ‘Somebody I used to know’, a memoir of living with young onset dementia, by Wendy Mitchell, with Anna Wharton, Bloomsbury2018 How does the service make sure that a person’s care plan fully reflects their physical, mental, emotional and social needs, including on the grounds of protected characteristics under the Equality Act? These should include their personal history, individual preferences, interests and aspirations, and should be understood by staff so people have as much choice and control as possible.

Data consisted of 170 h of fieldwork, including observations ( n = 39) with residents ( n = 19) and assistant nurses ( n = 22) in a Swedish NH. Interviews were undertaken with residents several times (in total, n = 35, mean 70 min/resident). To study dignity and dignity-related concerns, we used the Chochinov model of dignity to direct the deductive analysis. Results On Sunday, I had an old colleague here with me. It was so incredibly enjoyable! At night I lay down and thought of lots of things, because that’s how memories come to life. (Interview with resident, 88 years)Rodriguez, Philippe-André (2015). "Human dignity as an essentially contested concept". Cambridge Review of International Affairs. 28 (2): 3. doi: 10.1080/09557571.2015.1021297. S2CID 144462238. They also enjoyed seeing objects they had crafted with their hands. The observations showed that assistant nurses respected residents by listening when they signalled their need to talk, by asking for residents’ preferences on care, and by doing appreciated things, such as nail care. But they were also observed to neglect highly valued aspects of residents’ lives, e.g., when denying them help with their plants.