Belonging through a communicative lens in dementia caregiving: qualitative study of autobiographical caregivers narratives

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examined 23 autobiographical narratives to understand how dementia caregivers discursively construct a sense of belonging through In this study, belonging is understood as an individual feeling valued by a group that is communicatively enacted by both the individual and members of the group. This exploratory study revealed two characteristics of belonging as a communicative concept: (a) two-way street and (b) multi-faceted. Findings suggest that belonging is a more nuanced concept than previously thought.

KEYWORDS:

• Dementia
• family caregiving
• belonging
• social isolation
• narrative

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Joel Iverson and Kamla Hardowar with their feedback on this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.