Moving into the Register of “Memory” Problems: Interaction and Misunderstanding among Doctors, Patients, and Families

This article explores the variety of encounters among doctors, patients, and families in two hospital departments in charge of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. The observations of consultations are clarified by interviews, statistical analysis of medical files, and textual analysis of the replies to the first two questions in the survey on handicaps/disabilities/dependence. The exchanges around words—particularly the word “memory”—reveal affinities between doctors and lay people, as well as misunderstandings and disappointed expectations.