Single Children Caregivers vs. Married Couple Caregivers: Alzheimer’s Disease

Topics: Alzheimer’s Disease, Caregiver, Disease Words: 599 Pages: 2

Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature review
Analysis
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

The purpose of this topic is to expand research on Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease from the standpoint of the caregiver perspective. The disease was named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a doctor and an academic, who wrote his first paper on clinical dementia. His first study was on a woman by the name of Ms. Frau Auguste. Dr. Alzheimer had been the patient for 5 years until she died in 1905 from the chronic illness known as Dementia/Alzheimer’s (Kennard, 2006).

Because of the support that married couple caregivers have, the instances of Alzheimer’s disease in the latter are comparatively easier to address.

Literature review

Table 1. Literature used for the research

Author(s)	Date	Fieldwork approach	Description of the method	Findings
Freida Jean Fuller	1992	Qualitative	52 men were interviewed regarding the change in their family roles after their wives developed AD.	Fuller stresses the benefits for a caregiver to work with Alzheimer’s disease-affected patients, who have families and, preferably, spouses, since “Spouses are known to provide substantial and consistent care” (Fuller, 1992, p. 2). More to the point, Fuller acknowledges that age is often a considerable restriction in self-care.
Melva Jean Hayes	2003	Qualitative	Several focus groups were interviewed on the change of relationships with their AD partners.	People with dementia demonstrate impressive progress when there is a loving spouse by his/her side since it allows them to retain their integrity, self-esteem, and social role. The problems regarding the intimate aspect of family life, however, may pose a threat to the spouse’s relationships (Hayes, 2003).
Jian Li	2006	Mixed (qualitative and quantitative)	Seven well-validated instruments were used to create 5 questionnaires for caretakers of people with AD.	The treatment of AD patients is much more efficient in families since the physician has access to the family’s medical records and is capable of defining the key hereditary factors that may have caused Alzheimer’s (Li, 2006).
Mary E. O’Donnell	1997	Qualitative	Phenomenological research was used	Though O’Donnell admits the benefits of family caregivers (O’Donnell, 1997), the researcher claims that there are practically no differences between the strategies for addressing Alzheimer’s disease both in people with and without families.
Tracy Davis Yaeger	1990	Qualitative	4 types of questionnaires were distributed among the participants (caregivers for spouses with AD).	After a comparison of the family relationships between people with Alzheimer’s and their relatives for the patients who attended daycare and those who preferred to be treated at home, it was revealed that the condition of the former deteriorates due to numerous family conflicts, whereas those staying at home reported improvement in communication with family members since the latter to have the support of family members to integrate back into the society successfully (Yaeger, 1990).

Analysis

The term “Alzheimer/ dementia” is traditionally used as an umbrella term for symptoms of cognitive decline, including sclerosis, yet it is not considered a clinical diagnosis until an underlying disorder has been defined (Psych Central, 2014). “Dementia” is also applied to the symptoms that have been triggered by brain function alterations. The symptoms of the given disease include, but are not restricted to, reiterating the same question; loss of spatial orientation skills; inability to follow basic directions; losing the track of time, forgetting people’s names; complete disregard of one’s safety, hygiene, or nutrition. The pace of dementia progress varies depending on the patient’s health issues (National Institute on Aging, 2014).

Conclusion

Because of different rates in the loss of caregivers’ abilities, parents affected with Alzheimer’s must have someone by their side, whose behavioral and communicational patterns they can follow. Thus, Alzheimer’s treatment is more efficient in married couples.

Reference List

Fuller, F. J. (1992). Health of elderly male dependent-care agents for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Hayes, M. J. (2003). Negotiating and managing intimacy when the gendered self is threatened: Living and loving with Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

Kennard, C. (2006). Did Dr. Alzheimer discover Alzheimer’s disease?

Li, J. (2006). Effects of psychological stress and cytokine genes on humoral immune response to tetanus toxoid adsorbed in family caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients. . Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

O’Donnell, M. E. (1997). The lived experience of uncertainty for spouse caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.

National Institute on Aging (2014). Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center.

Psych Central (2014). Learn. Share. Grow. What is dementia? Web.

Yaeger, T. D. (1990). Factors influencing family caregivers’ utilization of adult day care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.