Interkulturelle Arzt-Patienten-Kommunikation aus der Sicht von Allgemeinmedizinern in Luxemburg

Poster (2013, September)

Interkulturelle Kommunikation und interkulturelle Kompetenz in der Gesundheitsversorgung einer alternden Gesellschaft

Poster (2012, September)

Perceived rights of and social distance to people with Alzheimer's disease

in GeroPsych: Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry (2012), 25(1), 25-32

The present study investigated how laypeople and professionals (N = 185) judge the rights of a person affected with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and whether social distance exists towards this person ... [more ▼]

The present study investigated how laypeople and professionals (N = 185) judge the rights of a person affected with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and whether social distance exists towards this person. Participants completed a questionnaire after reading a vignette describing a target person with an early stage of AD. Half of the participants responded to a female target, the other half responded to a male target. Results showed that rights and competencies of the persons are rated high and social distance is exhibited only to a lesser degree, although there was a significant difference between the male and female target. Furthermore, health professionals approved more rights than laypeople, which suggests that there is a need for more detailed information about this disease in the general population. [less ▲]

Emotions associated with Alzheimer’s disease in laypersons and health professionals

Scientific Conference (2011, August)

This study starts with the notion that Alzheimer’s disease shows specific symptoms of cognitive decline as well as different affective-motivational symptoms. These range from increased irritability to a ... [more ▼]

This study starts with the notion that Alzheimer’s disease shows specific symptoms of cognitive decline as well as different affective-motivational symptoms. These range from increased irritability to a depressed mood, which may also characterize the main features of individual disease representations. The cause and the onset of AD may be perceived as uncontrollable and could increase the perceived threat associated with this disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the intensity of emotions evoked by a vignette describing a person affected with AD using two groups each with different knowledge of the disease – namely a sample of lay persons (n=72) and a sample of health professionals working with persons with persons affected with AD (n=113). The vignette comprised two versions - one describing a woman, the other a man in an early stage of AD showing first specific symptoms - and it was followed by a list of k=16 emotions whose intensity was rated towards the target person. Analyses of variance showed that the intensity of “pro-social feelings” towards the person was significantly rated higher than the intensity of negative feelings. Interactions between the gender of the target person and the understanding of the disease emerged for some emotions. Cluster analysis identified three groups with differing emotion profiles: “Those with high pro-social feelings”, “Those with a low emotional profile” and “Those with mixed emotions”. Findings are discussed with respect to their implications for health care professionals and public perception of AD. [less ▲]

Perceived rights and stigmatisation of people with Alzheimer’s disease

Scientific Conference (2010, October)

The estimation of the autonomy and the competencies of a person with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complicated process, which may sometimes rely on socially shared stereotypes of this disease and may thus ... [more ▼]

The estimation of the autonomy and the competencies of a person with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complicated process, which may sometimes rely on socially shared stereotypes of this disease and may thus lead to the stigmatization of people with AD. This becomes especially evident when it comes to rights and responsibilities of persons with AD given that there is no clear-cut definition of these. The aim of the empirical study presented here was to examine perceived rights of people with AD and their relation with indicators of stigmatization. This was analyzed in a sample of laypersons (n=72) and a sample of health professionals working with persons with AD (n=113). In particular, the study questionnaire presented a vignette describing in one version a female and in the other version a male person at an early stage of AD followed by a list of 26 rights which had to be rated with respect to the target person on a 5 point Likert-scale. The list showed a factorial structure differing between five domains of perceived rights, namely “right of privacy and information”, right of autonomous living”, “citizen rights”, “right of self-determination and self-responsibility”, and “decision making by significant others”. Moreover, k=16 emotions towards the target person were analysed as indicators of social distancing. In subsequent steps of analyses, we tested if rights were differently perceived depending on (a) target person’s gender, (b) professional contact with persons with AD and (c) perceived social distancing. Results showed that the rate of agreement to the five identified domains rights was in general quite high across groups; furthermore, participants expressed a low level of social distancing and high pro-social emotional reactions towards persons with AD. Professionals accorded more rights to people with AD than laypersons, showed less social distancing and less pro-social and unpleasant emotions towards the target person. Social distance was higher towards the male target person who elicited more unpleasant emotional reactions and was rated more dangerous than a woman with AD. Findings are discussed with respect to the necessity of creating and developing a culture concerning the rights to be accorded to persons affected with AD. [less ▲]