Dementia and Caregiving
After moving from the house she was born into, Anita found out her father had dementia. While shifting, he had no understanding where they were going, yet he was driving, consistently lost stuff in the new house, and with all the change, he became irritable. One morning he cut off his fingertip while working in the garage. That’s when they took him to the hospital and the physician was not kind in delivering the diagnoses. Sadly he announced that he had early symptoms of dementia and then demanded his license immediately. In my opinion, the delivery of the doctor would have been handled better. He was then given medication, and each week was set for therapy. Her father later saw a neurologist who recommended comprehensive neuropsychological testing.
The effect of the diagnosis was devastating for Anita and the entire family. They experienced a variety of emotions after the diagnosis, such as rage, distress, frustration, and sorrow. So many considerations had to be taken about his health, nursing, living situation, finance, and end-of-life care. As a consequence, the entire family was in a state of turmoil. Anita used to take a yoga class every evening after school, but she had to quit after the diagnosis as the whole family shared responsibility for bringing her home. The family has been undergoing a time of sorrow and suffering. It’s was not easy to see the degenerative progression of the one they love and, in the end, see them die gradually right in the front of their eyes. He was the shell of the one they once knew. Her mom gave up her full-time career, spare time, and interests to take good care of him. Anita’s father was not included in the decision-making process because he frequently refused to take his medications and declined to see his psychiatrist from time to time. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The diagnosis, however, harmed their social life. Her mother had to quit a full-time job, and her older brother had a drop off some working hours; they also lost a lot of their friends due to their busy schedules. The family had an excellent culture, so it was out of love to care for Anita’s father. They did everything they could to keep him comfortable n happy. He was not at any stage stigmatized. However, their friends did not realize that dementia is a disorder; they assumed it was a common occurrence for the elderly; thus, they did not support much in care. Anita believes her father has a strong quality of life. She explained that her father’s attitude towards life had immensely improved over the past two years. Besides, most of the moment, he had a positive relationship with his family, which gave him hope and boosted his social confidence. Good relations are a crucial component in retaining QoL by reinforcing a sense of self-value, hope, and social confidence. After years of rage, frustrations, and sorrow, Anita’s father finally started to seem content. This enhanced his cognitive capacity a bit, and he was able to go out of the house on his n even though he always lost his way, occasionally he found his way back. Finally, the love he had from his family helped him embrace his new condition and do away with permanent frustrations. As a result, his quality of life improves. She urged all caregivers to exercise resilience and flexibility. To help them cope with the difficulties and stresses ahead, S He was thankful for the time she was little and before Alzheimer’s for the time she’d had with him. So many things he taught her a lot of stuff and she wished she could have told him that.
Quality of life, cultural contexts and the biomedical and social perspectives of dementia studies
The biomedical emphasis on dementia has brought into the scientific and medical areas of interest the manifestations of what was deemed a natural part of aging (Barlett, R, and O’Connor, D. 2010. Bio medically, dementia is regarded as a neurological disorder that should be diagnosed and treated. When a dementia diagnosis is made, many medical and associated social problems have to be discussed (Shoji,2011). The potential results of neuropathology require a home safety evaluation, driving danger, accessibility/education of caregivers, dietary requirements, and medical treatment. It is of utmost importance to resolving these issues since dementia is associated with an increase of pneumonia mortality, bacterial infections, and dehydration (Fick, Kolanowski, Waller, & Inouye, 2005). Anita’s father saw a neurologist who recommended a thorough examination of the neuropsychology. He was accompanied to each of the medical tests, even the times he resisted. His family understood the significance of treatment and of taking him to therapy once in a while.
Some people find dementia-related cognitive impairment, a common phenomenon among the older people, and as part of the aging cycle, instead of as a syndrome (Downes and Bowers, 2008). The understanding of Alzheimer’s as part of the aging process stimulated an acceptance of the symptoms and a somewhat negative correlation, despite being regarded as a disease in scientific discourse. (Bownes & Downes, 2008). Whereas the medical discourse uses the term “Alzheimer” to point out a pathology-related symptom, the name “demented Alzheimer’s” refers to quite a natural, ordinary and regular age-related condition for most ordinary people, and not neurological at all. It’s like a medical disorder has been unintentionally normalized, in away. In my interview with Anita. Many of her friends would remark that her father’s ailment was a typical case of the elderly. They found it hard to interpret the disease: they didn’t see it as an illness and had trouble recognizing her father’s requirements and helping them to cope.
Most studies have found that positive relationships, social participation, better day-to-day functioning, positive physical and mental health, and high-quality treatment were all related to improved quality of life for people with dementia (Burgener and Twigg, 2002). While QoL does not automatically decrease with the development of dementia, it is highly influenced by the attitude of the dementia individual (Burgener and Twigg, 2002). Improved cognition and attitude may lead to higher QoL. Increases in QoL for dementia patients have been related to standard, and clinical variables such as mood and cognition have improved, and this is a recent and significant finding. Mood refers to mental well-being, pleasure, conscience-esteem, and general life contentment, all of which are QoL determining factors (Hoe, Katona, Roche, 2005). The potential of people to respond to setbacks and retain a healthy self-belief is an essential aspect of psychological health. Relationships are a crucial factor in sustaining QoL by reinforcing a sense of personal value, home, and social confidence (Hoe, Katona, Roche, 2005). As seen from the interview, after years of rage, frustrations, and sorrow, Anita’s father eventually started to appear content. lThis enhanced his cognitive capacity a bit, and he was able to go out of the house alone even though he always lost his way, occasionally he found his way back. Finally, the love he had from his family helped him embrace his current condition and do away with permanent frustrations. As a result, his quality of life improves.
Cultural values and behaviors toward dementia and cultural expectations about family unity are central factors in the treatment of patients with dementia. Cultural values tend to affect caregivers ‘ attitudes towards caring (Shoji, 2011). Early stages of dementia patients do not need clinical or testing care since moderate cognitive dysfunction is seen as part of the natural aging cycle. At more progressed stages of dementia, reluctance to pursue research projects originated from a struggle to share stigma-related news of the disorder with the family (Shoji, 2011) dementia’s stigma tends to hinder caregivers honesty on their encounters with the outside world. Anita’s dad, however, had developed an influential family culture, and he believed his family would provide the necessary support in as much as he was angry, sad, and depressed about learning he had dementia.
References
Barlett, R., and O’Connor, D. (2010). Broadening the Dementia Debate: Towards Social Citizenship. The Policy Press, Bristol, UK.
Burgener, S., and Twigg, P. (2002). Relationships Among Caregiver Factors and Quality of Life in Care Recipients with Irreversible Dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders;16:88–102.
Downes, M, and Bowers, B. (2008). Excellence in Dementia Care. Open University Press.
Fick, D.M., Kolanowski, A.M., Waller, J.L., Inouye, S.K. (2005). Delirium superimposed on dementia in a community-dwelling managed care population: A 3-year retrospective study of occurrence, costs, and utilization. Journals of Gerontology Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences. ;60(6):748–753.
Hoe, J., Katona, C., Roche, B. (2005). Use of the QOL-AD for measuring Quality of Life in people with severe dementia – The LASER-AD study. Age & Ageing;34:130–135.
Shoji, M. (2011). “Biomarkers of Dementia.” International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.