Becoming forgetful: how elderly people deal with forgetfulness in everyday life.

Full Abstract

Studies show that complaints about being forgetful are weakly correlated with standardized measures of memory impairment. Little attention has been paid to those complaints in a healthy elderly population. Therefore, this qualitative, grounded-theory study investigated the experiences and consequences of becoming forgetful. In-depth interviews with 32 participants were conducted and analyzed. The findings show that forgetfulness became part of daily life through 3 strategies, conceptualized as doing forgetfulness:
(1) reducing complexity; (2) creating and maintaining routines; and (3) dealing with feelings of embarrassment and shame. The well-being of people experiencing forgetfulness depended on how successfully they performed the strategies of doing forgetfulness. Gaining insight into this process allows health care professionals to assess the phenomenon early and to individualize counseling and further diagnostic procedures.

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Author information

Author/s: Imhof, Lorenz (L); Wallhagen, Margaret I (MI); Mahrer-Imhof, Romy (R); Monsch, Andreas U (AU);

Affiliation: Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. lorenz.imhof(-atsign-)bluewin.ch

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2006 Oct-Nov; vol 21 (issue 5) : pp 347-53

Dates: Created 2006/10/25; Completed 2006/12/08; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 17062554, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adaptation, Psychological
Aged
Aging - psychology
Female
Humans

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