Practices of (De-)Activation. Sociological Perspectives on Dementia Prevention and Care in German Nursing Homes
Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
Funding: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Project Period: 2019 – 2024
Carried out by: Niklas Petersen
Background
In the absence of effective pharmacological therapy options, the focus of dementia research has shifted from treatment and care to risk prediction, early detection and prevention. Public health communication and media coverage regarding dementia strongly emphasize the individual responsibility for dementia risk management.
Focusing on the social, ethical and practical implications of the new understanding and public representation of dementia, the PhD project examines medical science, nursing science and public media discourses on dementia as well as every day practices in German nursing homes.
Publications
Niklas Petersen (2024). Fate or fault? Nurses’ perspectives on dementia prevention in German care facilities, Social Science & Medicine - Qualitative Research in Health, 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100468.
Niklas Petersen & Silke Schicktanz (2021): The Experts’ Advice. Prevention and Responsibility in German Media and Scientific Discourses on Dementia. Qualitative Health Research, 31:10, 2005–2018. DOI: 10.1177/10497323211014844
Niklas Petersen (2021): Neuro-Kultur des Alterns. Altern und Demenz(-Prävention) in der Aktivgesellschaft [Neuro-Culture of Aging – Dementia Prevention in the Active Society], in: Franz Kolland et al. (ed.): Kulturgerontologie – Kulturalistische Perspektiven auf das Alter(n) im deutschsprachigen Raum, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 151–170. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-31547-4_8
Niklas Petersen & Julia Perry (2021): Annette Leibing and Silke Schicktanz: Preventing dementia? Critical perspectives on a new paradigm of preparing for old age. Monash Bioethics Review, 39, 180–183. DOI: 10.1007/s40592-021-00135-3
Niklas Petersen (2020): Konfliktfall Demenzvorhersage: Chancen und Risiken der Demenzvorhersage – Wie gestalten wir die zukünftige Praxis? [Conflict dementia prediction: Opportunities and risks of dementia prediction - How do we shape future practice?]. Ethik in der Medizin, 32:1, 103–106. DOI: 10.1007/s00481-019-00553-2
Conferences
»Pflege-Krise trifft Corona-Krise« [»Care Crisis Meets Covid Crisis«], Joint DGS/ÖGS Conference, Vienna, August 23, 2021 (with Franz Kolland and Vera Gallistl)
»Demenz-Prävention und Pflege im wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Wandel«, Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, December 6, 2019 (with Silke Schicktanz)
Talks
- Niklas Petersen: »'Preserving Cognitive Functions!' Prevention and Care in German Public and Professional Discourses on Dementia«, CREGÉS Conference, Montreal, April 18., 2022
Niklas Petersen: »Between Dignity, Responsibility and Cost Effectiveness – Rationales of Dementia Care in Germany«, Panel: »Multiple Dementias and Regimes of Care«, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting 2021, Baltimore/online, USA, November 18, 2021
Niklas Petersen: »Pflege von Menschen mit Demenz in der Pandemie: Ambivalenzen der Sorge«[»Dementia Care during the Pandemic«], Ad-Hoc-Gruppe: Pflege-Krise trifft Corona-Krise, Gemeinsamer Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS) und der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (ÖGS), Vienna, 23. August 2021
Niklas Petersen: »Altern und Demenz(-Prävention) in der Aktivgesellschaft«[»Aging and Dementia in the Active Society«], Spring Conference of the DGS Section for Medical Sociology, online, Juni 11, 2021
Niklas Petersen: »Zur Gouvernementalität der Demenz zwischen Aktivierung und Medikalisierung«[»The Governmentality of Dementia between Activation and Medicalization«], Research Colloquium Political Sociology, University of Jena, Germany, January 2020
Niklas Petersen: »Demenzprävention in der Aktivgesellschaft« [»Dementia Prevention in the Active Society«], Workshop: »Demenz-Prävention und Pflege im wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Wandel«, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany, December 2019 [»Dementia Prevention in the Active Society«]
Niklas Petersen: »Zur Bedeutung von Aktivierungsdiskursen im Feld der Demenzprävention« [»Discourses of Activity within the Field of Dementia Prevention«], Conference: »Gesund – erfolgreich – gut? Zur Diskussion gerontologischer und politischer Leitbilder des Alterns«, Kaiserburg Nürnberg, Germany, October 2019 (Poster Presentation)
Niklas Petersen: »Prevention and Treatment of (Mild) Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Care«, TrentAging 2019, Second Joint NANAS/ENAS Conference, Trent University, Canada, May 2019
»Practices of (De-)Activation. On the Ambivalence of Psychotropic Medication in Geriatric Care«, Marie Jahoda Winter School, Universität Wien, Austria, November 2018
Contact
contact information
- telephone: +49 551 3969006
- e-mail address: niklas.petersen(at)med.uni-goettingen.de