Alzheimer's Theory

“Alzheimer`s disease is called a family disease” (ALZlive), because it impacts every family member who is slowly watching a loved one decline. Alzheimer’s disease has an impact on caretakers because caregivers can lead to a variety of emotions, from guilt to anger. When dealing with a client who has Alzheimer; caretakers have a huge responsibility, which can cause stress or depression. If the caretaking is a family member it might lead to finical problems, which can lead to the hard and controversial decision of putting someone in a nursing home, that is better equipped. Guilt is the main emotion that a caretaker can express “I have never spoken to my mother`s doctor, it occurs to me that other children of

Race is a particularly powerful way of maintaining the dominance of the social group in power. The construct of race is about stratification, which puts a racially justified hierarchy among people in society to keep the dominant social group in power. Stratification can influence the resources an individual receives. Therefore, social workers sometimes use a theoretical approach called, Critical Race Theory (CRT), to guide their work in making certain general assumptions about issues of power, race, ethnicity, and racism. This is because CRT is an alternative theory that offers a radical lens to make sense of racial inequality in society, which could prove useful when analyzing a client’s situation. The

By the numbers, Alzheimer’s disease looks even worse than it may be. The cost of Alzheimer’s overwhelms the caregiver and everyone involved with the patient. The price businesses pay for Alzheimer’s it detrimental to their industry, show by “A 2002 study showed that United States businesses lost $36.5 billion that year because employees missed work or quit and had to be replaced so that they could care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease” (Adams 24). The caregivers play vital roles in the lives of the sufferer, but the business take an even heavier loss. Heath care is necessary for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, however it can get expensive “The costs of

A major devastating and debilitating disease, Alzheimer 's is a public health issue that affects not only the United States but also countries all around the world. In 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Researchers and medical personnel expect this number to triple by the year 2050. The disease is costing America an exorbitant amount of money and has become a burden on families, caregivers, medical personnel, the healthcare system, and the nation’s economy. If attention is not focused on this major problem, “nursing homes will be overloaded, caregivers will be burned out, healthcare system will be overwhelmed, and federal and state budgets will be overtaxed” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2011).

In addition to these psychological ramifications the caregiver also can suffer physical ailments, using more prescription medications and more health care providers than a non-care-giving counterpart (Greenwood, 2012). The spouse with dementia often needs constant care and supervision but is not necessarily in need of

Caregivers play a crucial role in the care of dementia patients. Providing care for dementia patients results in stress related health impacts to the caregiver. The caregivers go through a journey with the dementia patient and need a strong support system. The best approach to dementia care is for health care providers to provide information to and monitor the caregiver, in addition to the dementia patient, encourage the caregiver to take care of themselves, to seek support, and to work as a team to provide the best care for the dementia patient.

Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their

It is a complex disease people often times do not know how to care for. Although a decline in memory and bouts of more forgetfulness are more common as one ages, spotting the difference between normal age-related symptoms and Alzheimer’s is important for families so that they can get their loved one the best care available. Even with proper care though, caregivers can misunderstand the symptoms of those afflicted, leading to an improper treatment of the patient. There are an estimated between 2.4 and 3.1. million AD caregivers in the United States, a majority of which are family members, who may not know proper care techniques or may be of older age themselves, as they could be caring for a spouse (Schulz and O’Brien1, 185-94). In fact, in a study of caregivers of those to patients with a memory ailment including Alzheimer’s or Dementia found that spouses have consistently been found to be more depressed than other relatives caring for a family member with a cognitive impairment (Schulz and O’Brien2, 771-91). To help in awareness, there are many new classes being offered in schools that can better prepare caregivers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease dedicated a major goal to “Enhance Care Quality and Efficiency,” with major strategies including building a workforce with the skills to provide high quality care, explore

An expert caregiver in dementia care is trained to be able to identify the progressive deterioration symptoms of the patient to take the next best course of action without springing sudden surprises that may be discouraging to the family members. These professional dementia caregivers are able to inform the family members of the progressive health of the patient gently to help members accept the condition of the patient.

Providing care for a family member can cause a tremendous strain for the primary caregiver in many areas of his/her life including financial, physical, and psychological which often results in both increased emotional needs and physical complications for the caregiver (Eun-Jeong Lee, DeDios, Fong, Simonette & Lee, 2013). As disabled older adults live longer lives, there is now an increasing need to rely on others to assist them with their day-to-day activities and activities of daily living (ADL), and that role often falls upon the spouses of the impaired or close family members (Barbosa, Figueirdo, Sousa & Demain, 2010). Research data provided by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) estimated that there were approximately 44 million caregivers age 18 and over, with one third of those caregivers being male, whom were providing care to adults age 50 and above (National Alliance for Caregiving, 2015). These

One fourth of Alzheimer's patients participate in physical aggression towards their caregivers which shows one of the major effects of AD. Another effect is that the Alzheimer's patients are not aware of what they have and have trouble explaining what they have, and it is not something that they can control. It is very clear that the caregivers of the patients fall into tremendous stress since the patients can't seem to remember who they are, and are unable to grasp a lot of their memories. It is determined that family members and caregivers taking care of the AD patients, need more social support in order to not fall into a high level of stress, because stress can cause the caregivers to leave the AD patient alone. Behaviors such as Yoga and exercise and simple ways of manipulating Alzheimer's disease, and though the disease as of today, still has no cure, there are scientist working on ways to control it and reduce the symptoms in order to change the patient's behaviors. This all shows that Alzheimer's Disease effects the caregivers overall due to the memory loss and personality change of the AD patients, and it also effects the caregivers due to the high level of stress that they

After Alzheimer's is diagnosed in a parent, or other elderly family member, the caregiver has the task of deciding what the best form of care for the patient is. In order to do this they have to fully understand what the disease is, and

One caregiver situation is when an adult child has to take care of their parent who has Alzheimer’s disease. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (2013) Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders V, Alzheimer’s disease is defined a neurocognitive impairment that affects one's short and long-term memory. This progressive disease slowly takes over the body. For anyone who is taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s disease is slowly watching, his or her loved one pass away. This disease is referred to “the long goodbye” because of how the brain of the person who has the disease is long gone before he or she actually passes. Family members who take care of their loved one with Alzheimer’s disease can become burnt out from the stress that is placed upon them (Yilmaz, Turan, and Gundogar, 2009). According to Yilmaz, Turan, and Gundogar (2009), burnout is referred to as a response to strain when working with patients as a full-time caregiver. This strain causes emotional exhaustion due to the psychological and emotional demand of the job. “[Caregivers] reported that burnout was related to the gender (women reported higher burnout) and limitation in social life, poor health and a lack of positive outlook on caring” (Yilmaz et al., 2009, p. 20). Having burnout symptoms as a caregiver is a real burden at times. The burden is especially great when the patient has problem behaviors,

The older adult population in the United States has steadily increased thanks to technology and medical advances. While this definitely is an undeniable achievement, it also creates some challenges that society was not as prevalent to face before. Now that people are living longer it’s also means that often times family members are becoming caregivers to their loved ones during their so called golden years. Not only may it be difficult to care for a loved one, but it also becomes even more burdensome when their loved has a disability. In fact “dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.” (2016). Fortunately there are adult day centers that serve people with dementia and provide services that can benefit them. However many times caregivers are forgotten about and aren’t provided services that can also benefit them as well. While it does take a bit of pressure off of the caregivers while their loved ones are at the day center, it does not eliminate all the other effects. Many people may not be aware that there are detrimental effects that a caregiver may experience as a result of caring for someone with dementia.

Bomin Shima, Julie Barrosob, Linda L. Davisc,. "A Comparative Qualitative Analysis of Stories of Spousal Caregivers of People with Dementia: Negative, Ambivalent, and Positive Experiences." Science Direct. International Journal of Nursing Studies, Feb. 2012. 10 Mar. 2016.