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Semin Speech Lang 2009; 30(3): 198-206
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1225956
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Discourses of Dementia: A Call for an Ethnographic, Action Research Approach to Care in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Environments

Nicole Müller1 , Jacqueline A. Guendouzi2
  • 1Professor, Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
  • 2Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana
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Publication History

Publication Date:
26 August 2009 (online)

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ABSTRACT

The methods of ethnography and action research have much to offer to the field of speech-language pathology, particularly as our clinical populations are becoming increasingly diverse. We suggest that practicing speech-language pathologists and students, as well as researchers, will benefit from strategies that use the methods of participatory action research and ethnography as guiding principles to their work. Ethnography seeks to discover meaningful structures in a culture from the perspective of those whose culture it is. Action research, which shares a methodological basis with ethnography, is undertaken with the aim of improving the functioning of the social institution, practice, or structure investigated for the benefit of those most closely involved with that institution or practice. By way of illustration, we use data collected during fieldwork in Louisiana, involving persons with dementia from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.

KEYWORDS

Ethnography - action research - dementia

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Nicole MüllerD.Phil. 

Professor, Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

PO Box 43170, Lafayette, LA 70508, USA

Email: nmueller@louisiana.edu

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