Culturo-Linguistic Congruity in the Care of Welsh Speakers
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Language and Cultural Congruity in the Caregiving of First Language Welsh People with Dementia in Care Homes - what are the implications for Well-Being?
IRAS ID
230597
Contact name
Conor Martin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
The study examines how the well-being of first language Welsh people with dementia (PWD) who live in care homes is affected by the linguistic and cultural surroundings of their living environment. In particular, the concept of congruity, which is the degree of harmony and consistency between two (or more) things, is studied. A culturo-linguistically congruent environment for PWD in a care home would mean that the residents would be cared for by people who can speak their language and understand their values. In theory, the well-being of PWD in these circumstances is affected by the degree of congruity provided, and this study sets out to discover how. The rationale for this work is illustrated in a scoping review carried out by the authors prior to commencing this study, which found that cultural and linguistic congruity was advantageous for PWD living in care homes (and that incongruity was disadvantageous). The absence of linguistic congruity is a strong predictor for decreased well-being in people in such settings, due to communication barriers between residents and carers, which seem to result mainly from the loss of PWD’s second language skills. The purpose of this study is confirm whether these findings apply to bilingual people in Wales, and whether culturo-linguistic congruity should be a priority for those individuals with dementia who reside in care homes in this part of the UK.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
17/WA/0337
Date of REC Opinion
24 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion