Profile – Dr James Fletcher

Name:

Dr James Fletcher

Job Title:

Teaching Fellow

Place of work / study:

King’s College London

Area of research:

Sociology

How is your work funded?

Economic & Social Research Council

Tell us a little about yourself:            

I am a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine at King’s College London. My research focuses on the dynamics of informal dementia care networks in the East Midlands, UK. I am interested in interpretative approaches to dementia, as well as dementia research more broadly. I am also interested in the health and social care divide, ageing, mental illness and chronic conditions. My work is informed by symbolic interactionist and antipsychiatrist ideas, as well as social theory more generally.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself:           

I was a child model

Why did you choose to work in dementia?

I have a family history of dementia, so it is always in the back of my mind. When studying the sociology of mental illness at university, it struck me that dementia was rarely discussed because it was considered a different kind of thing. I found that dementia was variably accounted for in terms of ageing, mental health, chronic illness, neurodegeneration, disability and social psychology, none of which were completely adequate. Ever since, I have been fascinated by the ways that dementia is conceptualised, largely because there is still so much uncertainty and scope for improvement.

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