Alzheimer's Research Paper

“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

Imagine greeting your grandmother and being met with a blank stare. Think about how it would feel to watch as your father forgets how to drive or dress himself. Picture your own mother crying out for her long dead parents and siblings. Try to envision the look on a loved one’s face as you tell them that they can no longer live at home alone. Now put yourself in their place-- slowly losing your freedom, your memory, and your very identity. Welcome to the world of Alzheimer’s disease. This is the reality that nearly fifteen million caregivers and over five million patients must face every day. Public awareness must be raised about Alzheimer’s disease and the people it affects.

Alzheimer is a dangerous disease that mostly affects the brain. Alzheimer disease associates itself with a set of symptoms including memory loss as well as talking and thinking challenges. These side effects happen when harm occurs in the cerebrum. The decision to pick between a nursing home care and assisted living for a close person who requires special help is a troublesome dilemma that face numerous families who have Alzheimer patients. Families are often feel poorly prepared to settle on the right choice. The research aims at helping families by looking at the advantages and shortcomings of every sort of consideration. The reason is that before making a decision on that topic, it is important

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

During the stages Alzheimer’s in which the resident is in need of care, but that care is not too complex, it is most common to turn to an informal caregiver. According to the 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures (2016), “In 2015, caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias provided an estimated 18.1 billion hours of informal (that is, unpaid) assistance, a contribution to the nation valued at $221.3 billion” (p. 32). Informal caregivers are mainly daughters and spouses of the residents. Females make up the majority of family member caretakers, but it is becoming more common for men to take on this role (Brodaty & Donkin, 2009). Roughly a third of the caretakers in the United States are over the age of sixty-five and the majority are married or are in long term relationships. It has also been found that around 23% of caretakers for residents with dementia also have their own children under age eighteen (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). This can increase the level of stress that the caregiver faces, as he or she is being stretched in different directions.

One of the advantages by placing a parent with Alzheimer’s in a care facility, aside from the fact they are very experienced, is the family can still be very involved in the care of their loved one. Mannion (2008) explained that many of the times family help assist in the care of their parent in the early stages of the disease and will continue to care for them while their parent is in a care facility, which averages approximately nine hours a week. Children tend to feel the need to provide care for their parent with Alzheimer’s, but can have negative side effects. One may feel cut off from social activities and may become depressed, anxious or develop anger from caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Every loving, caring child needs to take a break from time to time when caring for their loved one, and respite care (temporary caregiver) is a wonderful way to achieve the needed time away (p.28). Caregiving, regardless of whether it’s the parent’s child or in a care facility, can be very difficult physically on an individual, especially in the late stages when they need a great deal of assistance in bathing, dressing, and moving from one place to another. Whoever the caregiver is, there are many services the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America can help with, such as finding support groups as well as social workers available for counseling to help caregivers caring for those with Alzheimer’s. Being a caregiver is a tremendous responsibility for an individual. Mannion stated “the wellbeing of a person with Alzheimer’s depends directly on the wellbeing of the person who is providing their care”

The authors opines that due to the advances in medicine our life expectancy is likely to extend and many of us will be called upon to be caregivers for someone in our family who requires special care. This book guides and educates readers on what can be done from a caregiver's standpoint to be better equipped to nurture people living with Alzheimer's disease. This book is authoritative as it packed with tips and techniques from five authorities in the field, and provides insights such as: What caregiving style will suit me best? What skills are likely to remain as Alzheimer's disease progresses? How do I balance my needs with the needs of the person I'm caring for? And much more! The most important tenet of this book is that we can better care

Since the voice of medicine is focused on biomedical goal, the need to place billions of dollars towards Alzheimer’s research is essential. Data shows that when money is invested in research towards diseases such as, heart disease, HIV, and cancer it reduces the death rate. Just like cancer and HIV where medication is available, the goals of managing Alzheimer’s disease in the voice of medicine would be working works towards not just understanding disease better, but creating a treatment for it. On the other hand, the goals of managing Alzheimer’s disease in the voice of lifeworld would be through being sensitive to the context and mutual understanding, (Lo and Bahar 2013). Those who have a family member who suffer from this disease

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,

According to the Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2017 alone, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the nation 259 billion dollars. More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease today and every sixty-six seconds someone develops this impactful disease. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias do not only affect the person with the diagnosis alone, but everyone that cares for them as well. Reportedly thirty-five percent of caregivers of people with this disease state that their health has gotten worse due to the care responsibilities they now have to adapt to for their loved one. It is not only life changing for the patient, but for the family and caregiver burden is at high risk with this disease. Still Alice, a film by directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, depicts Alzheimer’s disease in an even more rare form of early

The rationale for focusing on caregivers of Alzheimer's patients is because “In 1997, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in the United

However, Care Pathways, family organization that offer professional and helpful information to the younger generation regarding to senior care and housing options, provides a much more detailed information to clarify and help readers understand the different stages for dementia/Alzheimer’s disease patients along with various effective care/treatments. For example, there are three stages for Alzheimer’s disease: early, middle and late stage. It is very common for patients to live in nursing home or a facility with assisted care during their late stage. Family members often believe that they do not have enough time and the ability to take care of their loved ones. Also, most people believe that only the professional caregivers can provide the best care for the patients. However, this care might not be true for the early and middle stages patients since they do not forget everything entirely yet. Patients of these stages are not entirely dependent of the help from their surroundings. In fact, most patients at early and middle stages wish to live a normal life with freedom, and being placed in nursing takes away such freedom from the patients. This could create a personal feeling of being isolated or discriminated, which would emotionally and mentally affect them. The feeling of being independently also helps the patients to be more optimistic about their sickness, and indirectly improve their well-beings. Therefore, nursing home might not be the best solution for dementia/Alzheimer’s

I never imagined a loved one of my own diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This disease effects a person brain cells causing impaired memory, thinking and performances. Not only does Alzheimer affects a person’s daily activities, this affects everyone involved. For many who are facing a severe condition of Alzheimer’s have life-threatening situations that involves more than just a physician. Alzheimer’s disease consists of three different stages, which requires major support, care, and resources for a patient.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease are better living in a nursing home than with family members. Throughout the years there's millions of adults between the age of 65 and up , but in some cases, they develop the symptoms at a younger age. Alzheimer’s is a disease which disrupts the thought, memory of people making them forget certain things . In some cases there’s a high percentage that Alzheimer patients have hurt themselves or a family member. If they think about the family of the patients can see that having them in a nursing home can prevent tragic things from happening . Although a certain amount of people are against it placing family members in a nursing because they think that they’re better off living with them and they save money .

Not only does Alzheimer’s impact the patients and their families, it also affects the medical personnel caring for them. Caretakers develop personal connections to their patients, especially their Alzheimer’s patients because they typically live in long-term care for longer periods of time. Over 60% of these employees agree that working with dementia patients can feel stressful, and because of this stress, these workers paid almost $9 billion in personal health expenses in 2011. In fact, one third of these employees admit they have signs of depression. (Johns) New methods for assisting these patients must be