Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia alter an individual’s capacity to remember and interpret information about their environment, affecting their ability to continue caring for their needs, safety and wellbeing. We have a valuable lesson to learn from those with Alzheimer’s. It reminds us that, despite dominant cultural values of autonomy and independence, we are all mutually dependent on each other in a multitude of ways throughout our lives. By prompting a shift in the way that we interact with those affected, the emergence of Alzheimer’s disrupts the fictitious cultural ideal of self-reliance.

Forgetting Items: the Social Experience of Alzheimer’s Disease, by Baptiste Brossard, highlights this phenomena by specifically focusing on the processes through which this shift in the ‘interaction order’ occurs. In other words, it shows light on shifts in the often unspoken norms and patterns of behaviour which shape our everyday interactions. By honing in on the ‘social experience’ of Alzheimer’s, Brossard contributes to our understanding of the illness through a sociological approach which illuminates many of the cultural norms and assumptions that shape our interpretation of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Transcripts of interviews and conversations with various participants are woven throughout the book. Brossard speaks with individuals who have Alzheimer’s themselves, as well as their family members, caregivers and physicians. These conversations are a vivid element of Brossard’s book and give voice to the involved participants. By describing some of the physical spaces in which the interviews take place, Brossard demonstrates that experiences of Alzheimer’s can only adequately be made sense of by understanding the material realities in which they occur. For instance, Brossard shows that the medicalization of symptoms and the diagnostic process are inherently shaped by the social and material reality of the individual and their caregiving network. Whether an individual lives alone or not will affect the timeliness with which symptoms are observed and interpreted as requiring medical attention. Moreover, Brossard points out, a relative who works in the medical field may recognize symptoms quickly and have relevant contacts and connections—which is just one of the manifest ways in which socioeconomic status affects the accessibility of health-care resources.

Many of the changes in the dynamics of day-to-day interactions that Brossard notes may appear strikingly familiar to those who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or who have Alzheimer’s themselves. However, some readers might find that the book does not centrally focus on some of the social elements which may seem most palpable to those who have personal experience with Alzheimer’s—such as the shifts that occur within the dynamic of the family as a whole. Old and new tensions arise as families scramble to come up with the best arrangement to care and provide for their loved one. New bonds and understandings can form as families make complicated decisions in an often frightening situation. While Brossard does discuss the complexity and stresses of arranging and maintaining caregiving networks, some of the more personal and deeply human aspects of the process are not focused on in Brossard's book.

The social experience of any phenomena has an abundance of elements to explore, especially with a condition as unique as Alzheimer’s. Thus, whether a reader finds Brossard’s book entirely satisfying will depend largely on which particular elements of social experience the reader is interested in understanding. If a reader is primarily interested in critical analyses regarding social identities such as economic class, race or gender, they may find Brossard’s discussions to be lacking rigour in this domain. For example, the fact that women are disproportionately tasked with the majority of caregiving labour in many arrangements is mentioned only in passing. Nonetheless, Brossard does attend to these details, thus opening up the space for analyses worth exploring in more depth.

Understandably critical of the institutional structures responsible for organizing health care, the overall tone of the book seems to contain a certain cynicism and detachment. This tone, however, is carried throughout the entirety of the book. I suspect that some readers may be put off by this feature, especially because the sensitivity of the topic at hand urges us to engage with it sensitively and empathetically—especially when representing the narratives of individuals in this uniquely vulnerable position. It is also worth noting that the book is primarily an analysis of those with Alzheimer’s as recipients of interaction, rather than as subjective agents of experience. This particular methodology brings important phenomena to light, but readers will get the most out of Brossard’s book if they are interested in understanding how those with Alzheimer’s are interacted with, rather than how those with Alzheimer’s experience the condition.

Overall, Brossard’s book makes worthwhile contributions to sociological understandings of Alzheimer’s and sets groundwork for further research in this area. Brossard’s book provides readers with an overarching look at various interactional phenomena which shape the experience of the condition. It also shows that the symptoms and experience of Alzheimer’s cannot be adequately understood outside of their social and material context. By outlining some of the significant ways in which our interactions and interpretations shape the experience of Alzheimer’s, Brossard’s book draws our attention to the possibility of alternative interpretations—ones which may hopefully yield more fruitful and compassionate outcomes for those who experience Alzheimer’s.

阿尔茨海默氏症和其他形式的痴呆症会改变个人记忆和解释有关环境信息的能力，影响他们继续照顾自己的需求、安全和福祉的能力。我们从阿尔茨海默氏症患者身上学到了宝贵的一课。它提醒我们，尽管自治和独立占主导地位的文化价值观，但我们在一生中以多种方式相互依赖。通过促使我们与受影响者互动的方式发生转变，阿尔茨海默氏症的出现破坏了自力更生的虚构文化理想。

遗忘物品：阿尔茨海默病的社会经验，由巴蒂斯特·布罗萨德 (Baptiste Brossard) 撰写，通过特别关注“互动顺序”发生这种转变的过程，突出了这一现象。换句话说，它揭示了塑造我们日常互动的通常不言而喻的行为规范和模式的变化。通过深入研究阿尔茨海默氏症的“社会经验”，布罗萨德通过一种社会学方法促进了我们对这种疾病的理解，该方法阐明了塑造我们对阿尔茨海默氏症症状的解释的许多文化规范和假设。

与不同参与者的访谈和对话记录贯穿全书。Brossard 与自己患有阿尔茨海默氏症的人以及他们的家人、护理人员和医生交谈。这些对话是 Brossard 书中生动的元素，并为相关参与者提供了发言权。通过描述访谈发生的一些物理空间，Brossard 证明只有通过理解它们发生的物质现实才能充分理解阿尔茨海默氏症的经历。例如，Brossard 表明，症状的医学化和诊断过程本质上是由个人的社会和物质现实及其护理网络塑造的。一个人是否独自生活将影响观察症状和解释为需要医疗护理的及时性。此外，Brossard 指出，在医疗领域工作的亲属可能会很快识别出症状并有相关的联系和联系——这只是社会经济地位影响医疗资源可及性的一种明显方式。

Brossard 指出，日常互动的许多动态变化对于那些有阿尔茨海默氏症的亲人或自己患有阿尔茨海默氏症的人来说可能看起来非常熟悉。然而，一些读者可能会发现，这本书并没有集中关注一些对那些有阿尔茨海默氏症个人经历的人来说可能最明显的社会因素——例如整个家庭动态中发生的变化。随着家庭争先恐后地想出最好的安排来照顾和养活他们所爱的人，新旧紧张局势就会出现。当家庭在通常令人恐惧的情况下做出复杂的决定时，可以形成新的纽带和理解。虽然 Brossard 确实讨论了安排和维护护理网络的复杂性和压力，

任何现象的社会经验都有丰富的元素需要探索，尤其是在像阿尔茨海默氏症这样独特的情况下。因此，读者是否对布罗萨德的书感到完全满意将在很大程度上取决于读者有兴趣了解哪些特定的社会经验要素。如果读者主要对有关经济阶层、种族或性别等社会身份的批判性分析感兴趣，他们可能会发现 Brossard 的讨论在该领域缺乏严谨性。例如，在许多安排中，妇女承担了不成比例的大部分护理工作这一事实只是顺便提及。尽管如此，Brossard 确实关注了这些细节，从而为值得更深入探索的分析开辟了空间。

对负责组织医疗保健的制度结构的批评是可以理解的，这本书的整体基调似乎包含某种愤世嫉俗和超然。然而，这种基调贯穿全书。我怀疑有些读者可能会被这个功能推迟，特别是因为手头主题的敏感性促使我们敏感而富有同情心地参与其中——尤其是在代表处于这种独特弱势地位的个人的叙述时。还值得注意的是，这本书主要是将阿尔茨海默氏症患者作为互动的接受者，而不是作为经验的主观代理人进行分析。. 这种特殊的方法论揭示了重要的现象，但如果读者有兴趣了解阿尔茨海默氏症患者是如何与之相互作用的，而不是阿尔茨海默氏症患者如何体验这种状况，那么他们将从 Brossard 的书中获得最大收益。

总的来说，Brossard 的书对阿尔茨海默氏症的社会学理解做出了有价值的贡献，并为该领域的进一步研究奠定了基础。Brossard 的书为读者提供了对塑造疾病体验的各种相互作用现象的总体看法。它还表明，阿尔茨海默氏症的症状和经历无法在其社会和物质背景之外得到充分理解。通过概述我们的互动和解释塑造阿尔茨海默氏症经历的一些重要方式，布罗萨德的书提请我们注意替代解释的可能性——这些解释有望为阿尔茨海默氏症患者带来更多富有成效和富有同情心的结果。