Cristina Douglas | University of Aberdeen (original) (raw)

Papers by Cristina Douglas

Research paper thumbnail of Of dogs, humans, and lives worth living: thinking with dogs about later life, living and dementia, and more-than-human companionship

Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press., 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: Aging in more-tha-human companionship

Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press., 2024

Introduction to Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals... more Introduction to Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press

Research paper thumbnail of The Political Life of Research Ethics Committees And What It Means for Ethnographic Research

Medicine anthropology theory, Apr 29, 2024

This review discusses three pieces of work, that is, a conference panel and two books, that deal ... more This review discusses three pieces of work, that is, a conference panel and two books, that deal with the role of research ethics committees (RECs) in regulating biomedical research and medical anthropological research. We summarise the papers and conversations of a panel we convened on this topic during the 2020 European Association for Social Anthropologists (EASA) conference. We review two relatively recent books which discuss the role of RECs in biomedical research:

Research paper thumbnail of Ageing, ritual and social change: comparing the secular and religious in Eastern and Western Europe

Mortality, Nov 7, 2016

study of the relation between ageing, ritual, political ideologies and personal agency, pointing ... more study of the relation between ageing, ritual, political ideologies and personal agency, pointing to the necessity of deepening the exploration of individual contributions to the understanding of social change.

Research paper thumbnail of Ethics governance in Scottish universities: how can we do better? A qualitative study

Research Ethics Review, Jan 12, 2023

While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, ... more While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, there is little empirical understanding of how university research ethics committees (RECs) themselves operate and whether they are seen to operate well. In this article, we offer insights from a project focused on the Scottish university context. We deployed a three-sided qualitative approach: (i) document analysis; (ii) interviews with REC members, administrators, and managers; and (iii) direct observation of REC meetings. We found that RECs have diverse operation and vary in terms of what members understand to be the remit of their REC and what should constitute the content of ethics review. Overall, though, most participants perceive university RECs as operating well. When asked what they consider to be areas for further improvement, most commented on: implementation of an online system; more experience with how to evaluate various kinds of research projects; best practice exchange and training opportunities; more accurate reflection of the REC role as part of the university’s workload allocation model; and greater recognition of the importance of research ethics governance in the university’s research environment, and, for the members themselves, their career advancement. Based on our findings and subsequent discussions during an end-of-project roundtable with stakeholders, we propose a model of collaboration that can address some of the identified areas that could benefit from further improvement. This model would facilitate a heightened awareness of the importance of supporting REC members in their own effort in assisting students and staff alike in undertaking as ethically robust research as possible.

Research paper thumbnail of RADHIKA GOVINDRAJAN. Animal Intimacies: Interspecies Relatedness in India’s Central Himalayas. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 2018

Anthropology Matters, Nov 11, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic

Anthropology In Action, Mar 1, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care. Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch. Drawing from my ethnographic fi eldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Sco ish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch. Furthermore, I try to draw a ention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents.

Research paper thumbnail of Social, health and economic impact of COVID-19: Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) – a protocol for a mixed-methods study

BMJ Open

IntroductionPublic health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have reaped adverse physical, psycho... more IntroductionPublic health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have reaped adverse physical, psychological, social and economic effects, with older adults disproportionally affected. Psychological consequences of the pandemic include fear, worry and anxiety. COVID-19 fear may impact individuals’ mitigation behaviours, influencing their willingness to (re)engage in health, social and economic behaviours. This study seeks (1) to develop a robust and evidence-based questionnaire to measure the prevalence of COVID-19 fear among older adults (aged ≥50) in Scotland and (2) to examine the impact of COVID-19 fear on the willingness of older adults to (re)engage across health, social and economic domains as society adjusts to the ‘new normal’ and inform policy and practice.Methods and analysisThis mixed-method study includes a large-scale multimodal survey, focus groups and interviews with older adults (aged ≥50) living in Scotland, and an email-based ‘e-Delphi’ consultation with professionals...

Research paper thumbnail of Caring for an Unsettled Senior Rescue Dog in the Anthropocene

Research paper thumbnail of Ethics governance in Scottish universities: how can we do better? A qualitative study

Research Ethics, 2023

While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, ... more While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, there is little empirical understanding of how university research ethics committees (RECs) themselves operate and whether they are seen to operate well. In this article, we offer insights from a project focused on the Scottish university context. We deployed a three-sided qualitative approach: (i) document analysis; (ii) interviews with REC members, administrators, and managers; and (iii) direct observation of REC meetings. We found that RECs have diverse operation and vary in terms of what members understand to be the remit of their REC and what should constitute the content of ethics review. Overall, though, most participants perceive university RECs as operating well. When asked what they consider to be areas for further improvement, most commented on: implementation of an online system; more experience with how to evaluate various kinds of research projects; best practice exchange a...

Research paper thumbnail of Success is not all: When ‘failure’ becomes meaningful in late life

Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession, edited by Sarah Lamb, is a timely, thought-provokin... more Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession, edited by Sarah Lamb, is a timely, thought-provoking collection of sociological and anthropological studies that critically tackle the neoliberal Global North paradigm of healthy/active/successful aging. The authors are reputable scholars in the field of aging studies and/or medical anthropology, whose perspectives cover a variety of cultural understandings and practices of what is involved in aging meaningfully

Research paper thumbnail of Healing comes from paradise

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic

Anthropology In Action, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch Drawing from my ethnographic fieldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Scottish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch Furthermore, I try to draw attention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-species dementia studies: Contours, contributions and controversies

Research paper thumbnail of Book review - Radhika Govindrajan, Animal Intimacies: Interspecies Relatedness in India's Central Himalayas

Anthropology Matters, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic Living with Dementia in a Care Facility during COVID-19

Anthropology in Action, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care. Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch. Drawing from my ethnographic fi eldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Sco ish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch. Furthermore, I try to draw a ention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents. KEYWORDS: atmosphere, a unement, body work, dementia, sensory anthropology, touch Her tiny hand, with skinny fi ngers like tree branches, gently pats my hand. Now and then, she straightens my hair and nods. I nod back and lay my other hand on top of hers. She is all a smile, a playful giggle at times, and holds on to my hand for as long as we stay next to each other. When I am on the other side of the lounge, she follows me with her deep brown eyes, and her smile fi lls up the room like the hot air in a balloon. When I come back, and she looks distracted or confused, I lightly touch her shoulder. She turns her head to me, welcoming me with her smile. Sometimes Rusty, the therapet, joins our conversation. He greets us with his wet, curious nose, nibbling on some forgo en crumbs lying in Jean's lap. Jean bursts into laughter and reaches to Rusty's long fur. He responds to Jean's touch by turning his head for another stroke of his ears. At the other end of the leash, Jim, the human therapet handler, sprints into our wordless conversation, holding back Rusty's ram-bunctious enthusiasm. He lightly pets Rusty to guide him in how to behave with Jean. We all converse in this bubble, emerging through our touch.

Conference presentations by Cristina Douglas

Research paper thumbnail of Elixir of Life - The Imagery of Immortality in Medical and Cosmetic Advertising

Conference presentation - Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century, Alba-Iulia, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Reinventing the Myth of Paradise in Tourist Advertising

Conference presentation, SIEF - Zagreb, Croatia 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Red Death - The Imagery of Disease, Hygiene and Shameful Death in Political Discourse

Conference presentation - Death, Dying and Disposal, 12th edition, Alba-Iulia 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Medicalization of Life and the Imagery of Bodily Immortality

Conference presentation - Life Here and Hereafter Conference, University of Vilnius, Lithuania

Research paper thumbnail of Of dogs, humans, and lives worth living: thinking with dogs about later life, living and dementia, and more-than-human companionship

Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press., 2024

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: Aging in more-tha-human companionship

Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press., 2024

Introduction to Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals... more Introduction to Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse, eds. 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press

Research paper thumbnail of The Political Life of Research Ethics Committees And What It Means for Ethnographic Research

Medicine anthropology theory, Apr 29, 2024

This review discusses three pieces of work, that is, a conference panel and two books, that deal ... more This review discusses three pieces of work, that is, a conference panel and two books, that deal with the role of research ethics committees (RECs) in regulating biomedical research and medical anthropological research. We summarise the papers and conversations of a panel we convened on this topic during the 2020 European Association for Social Anthropologists (EASA) conference. We review two relatively recent books which discuss the role of RECs in biomedical research:

Research paper thumbnail of Ageing, ritual and social change: comparing the secular and religious in Eastern and Western Europe

Mortality, Nov 7, 2016

study of the relation between ageing, ritual, political ideologies and personal agency, pointing ... more study of the relation between ageing, ritual, political ideologies and personal agency, pointing to the necessity of deepening the exploration of individual contributions to the understanding of social change.

Research paper thumbnail of Ethics governance in Scottish universities: how can we do better? A qualitative study

Research Ethics Review, Jan 12, 2023

While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, ... more While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, there is little empirical understanding of how university research ethics committees (RECs) themselves operate and whether they are seen to operate well. In this article, we offer insights from a project focused on the Scottish university context. We deployed a three-sided qualitative approach: (i) document analysis; (ii) interviews with REC members, administrators, and managers; and (iii) direct observation of REC meetings. We found that RECs have diverse operation and vary in terms of what members understand to be the remit of their REC and what should constitute the content of ethics review. Overall, though, most participants perceive university RECs as operating well. When asked what they consider to be areas for further improvement, most commented on: implementation of an online system; more experience with how to evaluate various kinds of research projects; best practice exchange and training opportunities; more accurate reflection of the REC role as part of the university’s workload allocation model; and greater recognition of the importance of research ethics governance in the university’s research environment, and, for the members themselves, their career advancement. Based on our findings and subsequent discussions during an end-of-project roundtable with stakeholders, we propose a model of collaboration that can address some of the identified areas that could benefit from further improvement. This model would facilitate a heightened awareness of the importance of supporting REC members in their own effort in assisting students and staff alike in undertaking as ethically robust research as possible.

Research paper thumbnail of RADHIKA GOVINDRAJAN. Animal Intimacies: Interspecies Relatedness in India’s Central Himalayas. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 2018

Anthropology Matters, Nov 11, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic

Anthropology In Action, Mar 1, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care. Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch. Drawing from my ethnographic fi eldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Sco ish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch. Furthermore, I try to draw a ention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents.

Research paper thumbnail of Social, health and economic impact of COVID-19: Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) – a protocol for a mixed-methods study

BMJ Open

IntroductionPublic health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have reaped adverse physical, psycho... more IntroductionPublic health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have reaped adverse physical, psychological, social and economic effects, with older adults disproportionally affected. Psychological consequences of the pandemic include fear, worry and anxiety. COVID-19 fear may impact individuals’ mitigation behaviours, influencing their willingness to (re)engage in health, social and economic behaviours. This study seeks (1) to develop a robust and evidence-based questionnaire to measure the prevalence of COVID-19 fear among older adults (aged ≥50) in Scotland and (2) to examine the impact of COVID-19 fear on the willingness of older adults to (re)engage across health, social and economic domains as society adjusts to the ‘new normal’ and inform policy and practice.Methods and analysisThis mixed-method study includes a large-scale multimodal survey, focus groups and interviews with older adults (aged ≥50) living in Scotland, and an email-based ‘e-Delphi’ consultation with professionals...

Research paper thumbnail of Caring for an Unsettled Senior Rescue Dog in the Anthropocene

Research paper thumbnail of Ethics governance in Scottish universities: how can we do better? A qualitative study

Research Ethics, 2023

While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, ... more While ethical norms for conducting academic research in the United Kingdom are relatively clear, there is little empirical understanding of how university research ethics committees (RECs) themselves operate and whether they are seen to operate well. In this article, we offer insights from a project focused on the Scottish university context. We deployed a three-sided qualitative approach: (i) document analysis; (ii) interviews with REC members, administrators, and managers; and (iii) direct observation of REC meetings. We found that RECs have diverse operation and vary in terms of what members understand to be the remit of their REC and what should constitute the content of ethics review. Overall, though, most participants perceive university RECs as operating well. When asked what they consider to be areas for further improvement, most commented on: implementation of an online system; more experience with how to evaluate various kinds of research projects; best practice exchange a...

Research paper thumbnail of Success is not all: When ‘failure’ becomes meaningful in late life

Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession, edited by Sarah Lamb, is a timely, thought-provokin... more Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession, edited by Sarah Lamb, is a timely, thought-provoking collection of sociological and anthropological studies that critically tackle the neoliberal Global North paradigm of healthy/active/successful aging. The authors are reputable scholars in the field of aging studies and/or medical anthropology, whose perspectives cover a variety of cultural understandings and practices of what is involved in aging meaningfully

Research paper thumbnail of Healing comes from paradise

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic

Anthropology In Action, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch Drawing from my ethnographic fieldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Scottish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch Furthermore, I try to draw attention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-species dementia studies: Contours, contributions and controversies

Research paper thumbnail of Book review - Radhika Govindrajan, Animal Intimacies: Interspecies Relatedness in India's Central Himalayas

Anthropology Matters, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A World of Touch in a No-Touch Pandemic Living with Dementia in a Care Facility during COVID-19

Anthropology in Action, 2021

Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the w... more Touch is essential when living with dementia for communication and remaining connected with the world, and it is also unavoidable when performing body care. Thus, it is impossible to think of living and caring for people with dementia in the absence of touch. Drawing from my ethnographic fi eldwork conducted with therapy animals and people living with dementia in Sco ish care facilities, in this article I argue that the public health measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 infections need to be reimagined by taking into consideration the role of touch. Furthermore, I try to draw a ention to the lessons that we should learn about touch and the role of intimate bodily entanglements in dementia care from the high COVID-19 death tolls amongst British care home residents. KEYWORDS: atmosphere, a unement, body work, dementia, sensory anthropology, touch Her tiny hand, with skinny fi ngers like tree branches, gently pats my hand. Now and then, she straightens my hair and nods. I nod back and lay my other hand on top of hers. She is all a smile, a playful giggle at times, and holds on to my hand for as long as we stay next to each other. When I am on the other side of the lounge, she follows me with her deep brown eyes, and her smile fi lls up the room like the hot air in a balloon. When I come back, and she looks distracted or confused, I lightly touch her shoulder. She turns her head to me, welcoming me with her smile. Sometimes Rusty, the therapet, joins our conversation. He greets us with his wet, curious nose, nibbling on some forgo en crumbs lying in Jean's lap. Jean bursts into laughter and reaches to Rusty's long fur. He responds to Jean's touch by turning his head for another stroke of his ears. At the other end of the leash, Jim, the human therapet handler, sprints into our wordless conversation, holding back Rusty's ram-bunctious enthusiasm. He lightly pets Rusty to guide him in how to behave with Jean. We all converse in this bubble, emerging through our touch.

Research paper thumbnail of Elixir of Life - The Imagery of Immortality in Medical and Cosmetic Advertising

Conference presentation - Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century, Alba-Iulia, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Reinventing the Myth of Paradise in Tourist Advertising

Conference presentation, SIEF - Zagreb, Croatia 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Red Death - The Imagery of Disease, Hygiene and Shameful Death in Political Discourse

Conference presentation - Death, Dying and Disposal, 12th edition, Alba-Iulia 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Medicalization of Life and the Imagery of Bodily Immortality

Conference presentation - Life Here and Hereafter Conference, University of Vilnius, Lithuania

Research paper thumbnail of More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life

Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse (eds.). 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and ... more Cristina Douglas and Andrew Whitehouse (eds.). 2024. More-than-human aging: Animals, robots, and care in later life. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.