In the United Kingdom, people living with dementia admitted to National Health Service (NHS) psychiatric/mental health inpatient dementia assessment wards (dementia assessment wards) are nearly always compulsorily detained under a section of the Mental Health Act 1983 owing to the risk and complexity of the presenting condition. As such, dementia assessment wards admit some of the most vulnerable patients in society, yet these environments of care are under-researched and under-reported in the literature. Using care aesthetics as an overarching explanatory lens, this article focuses on the care of one patient (Charlotte – not her real name) resident on a dementia assessment ward and uses a range of qualitative methods to illuminate that experience, including ethnographic observations and a care record review. To further develop the reach of the case study, interviews were also conducted with Charlotte's husband as her main family carer and key ward staff involved in Charlotte's care. Data were analysed using a sensory and narrative-based method to provide a sequential, embodied, individually positioned and storied account of Charlotte's care and interpreted experience on the ward. The analysis revealed that Charlotte's presentation of dementia was complex insofar as she resisted any attempt by the ward staff to offer her food or drink or to help with washing and dressing. Charlotte also swore frequently and loudly and spent time actively ‘watching’ and ‘looking’ at people and the environment in which she was now living. The findings contribute to the fields of critical dementia studies, dementia education, health-care practice and policy making, and may be used to highlight the value of sensory and embodied approaches to capturing a caring dynamic.

在英国，由于风险和复杂性，入住国家卫生服务 (NHS) 精神科/心理健康住院痴呆评估病房（痴呆评估病房）的痴呆症患者几乎总是根据 1983 年《精神健康法》的一部分被强制拘留的呈现状况。因此，痴呆症评估病房接纳一些社会上最脆弱的患者，但这些护理环境在文献中研究和报道不足。本文以护理美学作为总体解释镜头，重点关注一位住在痴呆症评估病房的患者（夏洛特，不是她的真名）的护理，并使用一系列定性方法来阐明这种经历，包括人种学观察和护理记录审核。为了进一步扩大案例研究的影响范围，我们还对夏洛特的主要家庭照顾者丈夫和参与夏洛特护理的主要病房工作人员进行了采访。使用基于感觉和叙事的方法对数据进行分析，以提供对夏洛特在病房的护理和解释经历的连续的、具体的、单独定位的和故事性的描述。分析显示，夏洛特的痴呆症表现很复杂，因为她拒绝了病房工作人员为她提供食物或饮料或帮助她洗澡和穿衣的任何尝试。夏洛特还经常大声咒骂，并花时间积极地“观察”和“观察”人们和她现在生活的环境。这些发现有助于关键痴呆症研究、痴呆症教育、医疗保健实践和政策制定领域，并可用于强调感官和具体方法捕捉护理动态的价值。