Experience Related to Acceptance of Illness among People with Early-Stage Dementia: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to describe the structure of the experience related to acceptance of illness among people with early-stage dementia (PWED).Methods: Participants were six people who had Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Their clinical dementia rating scores were 0.5 or 1. Data were collected from individual in-depth interviews. The collected qualitative data were analyzed based on Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method.Results: The five constituents and eight sub-constituents were derived from the experience related to acceptance of illness among PWED; ‘Facing the changed me’, ‘Facing changes in roles and relationships with others’, ‘Conflict between recognizing and denying dementia in daily life’, ‘Perceiving the limits and accepting dementia’, and ‘Reconstructing daily life for the prolongation of the current health status’.Conclusion: This study contributes to the expansion of the in-depth understanding of the experience related to acceptance of illness among PWED. The results of the study will be helpful as basic data for community health nurses to develop interventions to improve acceptance of illness of PWED.