Bridging theory and practice

As a corrective to the depersonalizing tendencies of some caregiving practices and treatment contexts, the principles of person-centred care have been widely espoused. However, proponents of person-centred care often fail to acknowledge the fact that the body is a fundamental means of communication and, as such, the body is essential to the expression of personhood. Using a qualitative research design, we explored with health care practitioners how an embodied notion of personhood could enhance person-centred dementia care. Our findings indicate that the communicative capacity of the body enriches the imagination and connects health practitioners to the personhood of their care recipients, thereby fostering sympathetic care. Our findings further indicate that health care practitioners perceive that when care is premised on the communicative capacity of the body, this may improve the time efficiency of clinical practice, and may reduce, in certain instances, the need for drug therapy as chemical restraint. Further research is needed in order to evaluate the outcomes of an embodied selfhood approach to person-centred dementia care.