Video reflexive ethnography in hospital with people with dementia and delirium : can it be done?

This methodological article demonstrates how video reflexive ethnography (VRE) can be used to engage people with dementia and delirium in research, while in hospital. The rationale for this article is twofold. First, participatory methodologies, like VRE, are associated with several benefits for researchers, practitioners, and participants. Second, people with dementia and/or delirium seldom assume more than the role of mere 'research subject'" this can have considerable implications, given the rise of dementia and delirium, worldwide. This article therefore demonstrates how VRE can be used within a hospital to involve people with dementia and delirium, and those who support them, in research. In doing so, it establishes how this methodology can help to reveal practices and experiences that can give rise to quality care, yet be difficult to articulate, let alone examine. To helpfully illustrate this, the article is purposely presented using an unconventional reflective style, whereby (non-academic) co-researchers describe and critique their experiences. Specifically, they recount: what they did as co-researchers; how this unfolded and why; the associated challenges" for instance, obtaining and (re)negotiating informed consent and using a video-camera within a shared hospital setting; and how these were respectfully managed. These reflections indicate how VRE can create opportunities for (non-academic) co-researchers to co-create different meanings about what they do, how they do it, and what they experience, by interpreting and learning from bona fide instances of dementia and delirium care, in situ. The article concludes with a discussion of the associated implications for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.