Authors: Karen Lok Yi Wong, Granville Johnson and Deborah O’Connor
Title: Living with dementia: Exploring the intersections of culture, race, and dementia, stigma
Summary: Karen Wong, a PhD trainee in the ELCHA, published an article on dementia with Mr. Granville Johnson, a dementia advocate with lived experience, and Dr. Deborah O’Connor. This publication discusses the intricate interplay between culture, race, and the pervasive stigma and discrimination experienced by individuals living with dementia, particularly within the Chinese Canadian community. Despite existing literature highlighting the stigma’s impact on the dementia journey, attention has been given to how social factors shape these experiences. Employing a qualitative exploratory approach, the researchers conducted personal interviews with Chinese Canadians diagnosed with dementia. Through these conversations, they aimed to unravel the complex dynamics underlying the intersection of culture, race, and dementia stigma in the participants’ lives. Their findings reveal a narrative deeply woven with themes of stigma and discrimination. Participants demonstrated a sense of vulnerability and invisibility stemming from their diagnosis, echoing previous research findings, and recounted instances where their cultural heritage and racial identity intersected with their dementia journey, intensifying experiences of stigma and discrimination. These acts of marginalization, whether imposed from external social factors or internalized within the individual, engendered feelings of insecurity and a pervasive lack of safety. In shedding light on these nuanced experiences, the study underscores the heightened vulnerability faced by individuals living with dementia, particularly within marginalized communities.
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