Meaning Beyond Memory, Meaning Beyond Alleviation: A Logotherapeutic and Attentional Ethics focus upon Dementia Care

Dementia, particularly in its late stages, challenges dominant paradigms of personhood, identity, and ethical care. While most studies focus on clinical and pharmacological interventions, this paper moves beyond symptom management by integrating Viktor Frankl's logotherapy and Simone Weil's ethics of attention. This proposes an integrated framework for dementia care centered on meaning-making, relational presence, and affirming personhood. Drawing on Frankl's will to meaning and the capacity for self-transcendence, and Weil's discipline of attentive presence, this paper demonstrates that individuals with dementia retain the capacity for meaning and connection even as cognitive abilities decline. Lived experiences and the perspectives of caregivers and professionals reveal meaning-making as a dynamic, embodied, and relational process. This integrated approach advocates for adaptable and responsive care. Within this framework, meaning is co-created in the present moment, and human dignity is upheld through presence and ethical attention. By reframing dementia care to prioritize existential and relational dimensions, this study calls for systemic training and policy reforms to create caring environments, offering a more compassionate and hopeful vision for individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.