Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can happen through use of metaphors. However, common metaphors may not capture the complexity of experience of dementia from the perspective of the individual person or a family carer. This paper presents an alternative metaphor – that of a theatre production – based on the strategies used by carers to support people with dementia to live well in the community. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 12 family members caring for someone with dementia in the community in Queensland, Australia. Our aim was to explore the strategies these carers used to provide support. Interview recordings were fully transcribed and thematically analysed. We identified positive care-giving strategies that described multiple roles that carers fulfilled as they felt increasingly responsible for day-to-day decision making. Family carers explained how they supported the person with dementia to remain a central character in their life and continued to support the person to be themselves. To achieve this, family carers embodied roles that we identified as similar to roles in a theatre production: director, stage manager, supporting cast, scriptwriter, and costume designer and wardrobe manager. Our metaphor of a theatre production offers a fresh perspective to explore the experience of informal care-giving in the context of dementia.

语言可以塑造和加强对痴呆症患者的态度和定型观念。这可以通过使用隐喻来实现。然而，从个人或家庭照顾者的角度来看，常见的隐喻可能无法捕捉到痴呆症经历的复杂性。本文基于看护者用来支持痴呆症患者在社区中生活良好的策略，提出了一个替代性的比喻-戏剧制作。我们在澳大利亚昆士兰州的社区中对12位照顾患有痴呆症的人的家庭成员进行了面对面的半结构化访谈。我们的目的是探索这些照顾者用来提供支持的策略。采访记录被完全转录并进行了主题分析。我们确定了积极的护理策略，这些策略描述了护理人员在日常决策中负有越来越大责任的过程中所扮演的多种角色。家庭照料者解释了他们如何支持痴呆症患者在生活中保持中心地位，并继续支持该痴呆症患者成为自己。为了实现这一目标，家庭护理人员所扮演的角色类似于剧院制作中的角色：导演，舞台经理，配角，剧本编剧，服装设计师和衣橱经理。我们对戏剧作品的比喻提供了一个新的视角，以探讨痴呆症患者中非正式护理的经历。家庭照料者解释了他们如何支持痴呆症患者在生活中保持中心地位，并继续支持该痴呆症患者成为自己。为了实现这一目标，家庭护理人员所扮演的角色类似于剧院制作中的角色：导演，舞台经理，配角，剧本编剧，服装设计师和衣橱经理。我们对戏剧作品的比喻提供了一个新的视角，以探讨痴呆症患者中非正式护理的经历。家庭照料者解释了他们如何支持痴呆症患者在生活中保持中心地位，并继续支持该痴呆症患者成为自己。为了实现这一目标，家庭护理人员所扮演的角色类似于剧院制作中的角色：导演，舞台经理，配角，剧本编剧，服装设计师和衣橱经理。我们对戏剧作品的比喻提供了一个新的视角，以探讨痴呆症患者中非正式护理的经历。