Exploring the Relevance of Indigenous Knowledges to Dementia Care in Nursing

In this paper, we engage in philosophical inquiry to consider the relevance of Indigenous Knowledges (IKs) for reimagining dementia care for individuals living with dementia. We outline the limitations of philosophical perspectives aligned with Eurocentric academic knowledge, arguing that such knowledge relies on an individualistic view of self and neglects the body and embodied experience in dementia care. We demonstrate how a personal diachronicity perspective diminishes the importance of valuing the fluid and dynamic self-identities of persons living with dementia. We then turn to the epistemological foundations of IKs through philosophical inquiry, focusing on relationality, connectiveness, and holism, and discuss the role of IKs in institutional knowledge systems. We then explore the potential relevance of IKs to widen the epistemological and ontological gaze centering on the relational concepts of personhood, holism, continuity, embodiment, and homogeneity of self that are foundational to reimaging dominant approaches to dementia care.