Abstract
Disorientation as experienced by persons with progressive dementia diseases involves both existential and social dimensions. Based on video observations from a small residential care unit and exploring social interaction on a micro-level, this case study focuses on how a woman with vascular dementia actively tries to make sense of an everyday lunch situation. The analysis addresses strategies used by her to contextualize where she has ended up, and also how the meaning of the place is altered in communication. Findings point to social interaction between residents as an important resource to help maintain continuity with previous social life. However, there also seems to be an impending need for caregivers to help residents patch up their broken life-stories to render everyday situations comprehensible and the setting socially meaningful. Helping them find a way of placing themselves within it — also affording a positive self-identity and continuity with previous life history — is a major challenge in daily care.
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