Alzheimer's Disease In Children

“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

According to Kim, Chang, Rose, & Kim (2011), care-giver burden has been defined as a multidimensional response to the negative appraisal and perceived stress resulting from the taking care of an ill individual (p. 846). More easily stated a care-giver is a person who assists another individual with one or more of their daily activities of living. A person who finds it necessary to care for a loved one suffering from dementia often finds the task daunting if not polarizing. The role of caregiver often times has a negative effect on the caregiver. These can include feelings of depression, isolation, fear and anger as well as the feelings of constant responsibility and social isolation (Kim et al., 2011).

The topic of this article is about the effects that Alzheimer’s has on the patients, family members/caregivers. I believe there is a grave importance in this topic to help understand the effects of this disease and possibly help farther research. This might bring a few questions to the front of this discussion. How the relationship is after a patient is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? How does this effect the family members/caregivers? What symptoms do family members experience with Alzheimer’s patients? What factors in life play a role in developing this disease? This paper will explore these questions with the respect of these news articles.

Alzheimer is a disease that has and continues to affect the elderly cognitively and as a result decline in their daily functioning. This slow moving death causes the elderly to go through a transition that sometimes can lead to unintentional self injuries. Not only has this disease affected the the individual, but has extended to their family members who has to learn new methods of assisting their loved ones as well as how to cope as a caretaker. On a personal level, I have friends whom grandparents suffer from AD and I’ve noticed that it changes the dynamic of the family and the individual learning new ways to function. It was interesting to learn that in the 80’s, AD was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, but this gave

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

In the book, Surviving Alzheimer’s: Practical tips and soul-saving wisdom for caregivers, the writer, Paula Spencer Scott, gives insightful advice in regards to caring for someone that suffers from the unfortunate neurological disorder, Alzheimer’s. Scott does not hesitate to share multiple ideas, experiences about trying these ideas, and even included professional advice from geriatric specialist

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

There are many articles regarding caregiver depression, stress and burnout. According to Black et al. (2010), the surveys performed in their study show caregivers of people with dementia have increased reports of fatigue, helplessness, stress and onset of depression symptoms. This study sheds light on the financial burden placed upon caregivers; they can spend as much as one thousand dollars a month for prescriptions

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

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.

A nonsystematic study reviewed previous research and noted the importance of assisting caregivers as there are nearly four million adult caregivers nationwide.7 Researchers from the School of Nursing in Michigan gave insight about the issues faced by caregivers, and how to better meet their caregiving needs. Legislation review and five meta-analyses were conducted in order to see the many implications caregivers face as well offer ways to help them. National data showed these caregivers estimate an average of 8.3 hours a day providing care near 13.7 months. 5 Along with innumerable physical changes, sleep disturbances, and changes financial well-being, psychological impairment and moods disturbance were a great topic of research. In several

Alzheimer’s disease has been a very sensitive topic within my family for approximately 12 years as my mom has been diagnosed with it. This topic was selected as a result of growing interest by the primary researcher for several years in seeking to understand the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on children of other parents since my mom was diagnosed with the disease for some years now thus affording me my own experience. Through consistently having to visit my mom in a nursing home each month in a different state, I wanted to find out how other individuals of parents particularly those in the later adolescence stage cope and feel about the disease knowing that no cure has been discovered so far. The selected research topic would be deemed beneficial

In the pamphlet Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease, the Alzheimer’s Association adds late onset, traditionally known simply as Alzheimer’s, targets primarily people 65 and older. The disease follows a series of steps from mild decline with little noticed changes to very severe cognitive decline where the final stage of the disease is in progress (Basic 19-21). Throughout the stages, independence becomes lost and family members will become care takers and in the later stages nursing homes or hospice may be needed. One book encourages the care giver to communicate through body language, tone, and written instructions to help alleviate as much stress as possible for those living with Alzheimer’s (Living 47). The book further adds when caring for a person with Alzheimer’s remember to maintain patience and to show respect .

While the person with the disease is slowly losing themselves and their independence, their family has to deal with the burden of caring for their deteriorating family member, which can be both physically and emotionally draining. The hardships of taking care of a loved one with a disease like Alzheimer’s is the reason why patients are said to make up about two-thirds of those in nursing homes (Prigerson, 2003, as cited in Feldman, 2014). It is important for family members of the afflicted to realize there is help available for those having to deal firsthand with slowly losing their loved one. The Alzheimer’s Association, for example, is there to provide caregivers and family members support and information (http://www.alz.org). While dementia is something everybody fears of possibly developing later in life, it is reassuring to know that scientists are working hard to find new treatments for these diseases, and possibly a cure. As someone who is working towards a career to help elderly patients, I hope I will be learning more on this subject, so that I may effectively help patients diagnosed with diseases like Alzheimer’s, and their

A family health nurse assists patients and their families to manage health and illness. When dealing with chronic illness, all family members are affected and typically experience a disruption in their normal functioning. In this paper, I will discuss the chronic illness of Alzheimer’s disease and review three (3) ways I could promote the health of the patient and the family dealing with this illness.