"Living is a career, do you know what I mean?" young-onset dementia and women's career development

This thesis explores how living with young-onset dementia impacts women’s career development.
Dementia is a growing global concern, often associated with older age, though the number of people
being diagnosed with the condition at a younger age is increasing. Being diagnosed when younger
often presents additional career and life-stage related challenges and concerns. Career in this study
refers to paid work and other roles and activities that are important to individuals, so is defined as
life and work. People living with young-onset dementia have careers that are composed of paid
employment, voluntary activities (such as dementia advocacy and campaign work) and personal
roles (such as within the family). Recognising that people living with young-onset dementia are not
homogenous, and that more gendered perspectives within both dementia and career-related
research are needed, this study has focused on women’s experiences.
Twelve women living with young-onset dementia participated in this study through online
interviews. Objectives for the research included exploration of the impact of dementia on career life
roles and stages, enablers and disablers of career roles and the meaning of participants’ chosen
objects to career identities. Object elicitation was therefore used in an innovative way to begin
interviews and explore career. Findings were generated using reflexive thematic analysis, including
innovative creative approaches to analysis and understanding the data through art and crochet. This
research has evidenced that women living with young-onset dementia have careers that include
change and challenge, evolving feelings and needs. Themes included how careers continue but are
not continuous, and connections with peers and a community of others who offer support enable
positive career continuance. The roots of career formed before developing dementia can facilitate
new positive branches of career after diagnosis. This study offers a needed and unique contribution
to our knowledge of gendered experiences of life and work when living with young-onset dementia.