Participatory video and situated ethics: a pilot study involving people with dementia.

Abstract

It might be argued that visual methods are particularly appropriate in research involving participants whose ability to express themselves verbally (eg by means of formal interviews) is compromised for some reason. One such group of participants is people with dementia, a condition often characterised by fluctuations in memory, concentration, comprehension and speech. Whilst increased research into the subjective experience of people with dementia is vital, this can often be hampered by the difficulties of ascertaining participants¿ capacity to give informed consent. Ideally, also, research should go beyond non-malfeasance, and offer real benefits to those involved. People with dementia are all too often subjected to social exclusion and narrative dispossession (Baldwin 2006), so research practice should reverse these trends as far as possible.