Conversational trouble and repair in dementia: Revision of an existing coding framework

Rachel A Sluis; Alana Campbell; Christina Atay; Erin Conway; Zaneta Mok; Anthony J Angwin; Helen Chenery; Brooke-Mai Whelan

doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105912

Conversational trouble and repair in dementia: Revision of an existing coding framework

J Commun Disord. 2019 Sep-Oct:81:105912. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105912. Epub 2019 Jun 6.

Authors

Rachel A Sluis¹, Alana Campbell², Christina Atay³, Erin Conway⁴, Zaneta Mok⁵, Anthony J Angwin⁶, Helen Chenery⁷, Brooke-Mai Whelan⁸

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. Electronic address: rsluis@bond.edu.au.
² School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: alana.campbell@uqconnect.edu.au.
³ School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: tina.atay@gmail.com.
⁴ Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: erin.conway@acu.edu.au.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: zaneta.mok@acu.edu.au.
⁶ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: a.angwin@uq.edu.au.
⁷ Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. Electronic address: hsmexecdean@bond.edu.au.
⁸ Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: bmw@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 31226522
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105912

Abstract

A decline in the effectiveness of everyday conversation is often observed for people with dementia. This study explored conversational trouble and repair between people with dementia residing in residential care and professional care staff. The aim was to examine the utility of an existing conversational trouble and repair framework by Watson, Carter and Chenery (1999) in a comparatively larger sample. Twenty conversations were coded for dementia-specific trouble and repair; however, the original framework could not adequately accommodate the variety of trouble and repair within the dataset. The data was subsequently used to inform a revised framework, which captures a wide spectrum of trouble and repair in dementia and offers more precise codes to researchers and clinicians working with this clinical population. Examples of divergent coding strategies between the original and revised framework are provided as well as examples of trouble and repair patterns observed in both carers and people with dementia.

Keywords: Communication; Conversation; Dementia; Repair; Trouble.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged, 80 and over
Communication Disorders / complications*
Dementia / complications*
Female
Health Personnel
Humans
Male
Mental Status and Dementia Tests
Residential Facilities