Media tend to reinforce the stigmatization of dementia as one of the most dreaded diseases in westernsociety, which may have repercussions on the quality of life of those with the illness. The persons withdementia, but also those around them become imbued with the idea that life comes to an end as soon asthe diagnosis is pronounced. The aim of this paper is to understand the dominant images related todementia by means of an inductive framing analysis. The sample is composed of newspaper articles fromsix Belgian newspapers (2008e2010) and a convenience sample of popular images of the condition inmovies, documentaries, literature and health care communications. The results demonstrate that the mostdominant frame postulates that a human being is composed of two distinct parts: a material body and animmaterial mind. If this frame is used, the person with dementia ends up with no identity, which is inopposition to theWestern ideals of personal self-fulfilment and individualism. For each dominant frame analternative counter-frame is defined. It is concluded that the relative absence of counter-frames confirmsthe negative image of dementia. The inventory might be a help for caregivers and other professionals whowant to evaluate their communication strategy. It is discussed that a more resolute use of counter-framesin communication about dementia might mitigate the stigma that surrounds dementia.
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