How can we improve the Quality of Life of Alzheimer patients?

Abstract

Alzheimer disease has been a challenge to the patient when it comes to performing their daily activities and living life like other people.  The disease has no cure, and the only patients are helped through assisting them in suppressing some of the disease dementia symptoms. This research paper provides an in-depth analysis of some of the challenges faced in the caring of patients with Alzheimer. Besides, the article provides an in-depth analysis of some of the ways we can use to improve the quality of life of Alzheimer patients. The research uses a systematic literature review study methodology thorough evaluation of the previous research articles on Alzheimer patients’ life quality and challenges.

Introduction

Alzheimer disease refers to a brain disorder that causes the brain cells to degenerate making the cells to die slowly.  The disease is the most common cause of the condition known as dementia.  Dementia refers to a continues decline of the body cognitive ability in terms of thinking, behavioural as well as social skills that disrupts a victim’s ability to independently live a healthy life (Reitz, Brayne & Mayeux, 2011, pg. 6645) According to Alzheimer research studies, the early signs of this disorder may start with the behaviour of forgetting things or even loose in concentration during conversations.

Alzheimer disease patients, without doubt, face challenges when it comes to normal life activities. The question of concern has been how can we improve the quality of life of such people since they are part of society and they also deserve quality life like every other person.  The disease has no cure. Hence this poses a challenge when it comes to living life in a normal way.  The quality of life of patients is usually a challenge among patients at every stage of the disease.  Providing quality life to Alzheimer victims is also not an easy task. It is the responsibility of every person related to the patient to assist in improving the quality of life of such patients. However, many people, such as caregivers and close family relatives, lack the necessary knowledge on how to improve the quality of life of such patients. This research paper analyses some of the ways psychiatrists and family caregivers can use to improve the quality of life of Alzheimer patients.

Research Objectives

The main objectives of the research include;

• What are some of the ways that can be used to improve the quality of life of Alzheimer patients?
• What are the challenges family caregivers and the psychiatrists face when it comes to enhancing quality life among the Alzheimer patients?

As earlier said, Alzheimer disease is a challenge to not only the patients but also to their caregivers and psychiatrists. This research is important as it will help in answering the above research questions that will be useful to the public to deal with any challenge of caring for Alzheimer patients. The research will be important as it will help the public health sector to know some of the ways they can use to enhance the quality of life of Alzheimer patients after knowing the challenges of they face along the journey.

Literature Review

Many scholars and healthcare professionals have come up with various strategies to improve the quality of life of patients with Alzheimer. Besides, research studies have been on done to find such ways alongside the various challenges psychiatrists, and family caregivers face when it comes to assisting such patients.  Dementia is one of the challenges directly linked with Alzheimer. Patients with Alzheimer usually develop Dementia. Dementia leads to challenges in cognitive development.  Alzheimer patients develop dementia in stages of the severity of the disease. Dementia is an umbrella term under Alzheimer.

Dementia refers to a condition that is characterized by a person decline in brain functioning and socialization skills. As the brain functioning decline, some of the other body’s functions also declines. Patients with Alzheimer experience a decline in memory, language, problem-solving skills as well as thinking skills tend to be affected (Schölzel-Dorenbos, Meeuwsen and Olde Rikkert, 2010, pg. 113). The condition worsens as the patient severity of the Alzheimer disease continues to worsen.

Alois Alzheimer is the researcher whom the Alzheimer disease was named after.  Alois discovered that patient with Alzheimer faces the challenge of dementia. In his research, he identified this condition in a patient known as Auguest D.  In his research; the condition was identified to have caused impairments in the patient. The patient presents various symptoms of various progressive memory as well as language impairment. Besides, the Alzheimer patients display behavioural symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, and psychological impairment. Several research studies have been done, and they have still presented the same results as the main symptoms of the Alzheimer disease patients who experience Dementia (Jin et al. 2015, pg. n.d.).

Research studies in united states have also shown that Alzheimer disease concerning dementia is a cause of concern for public health in the country.  Worldwide, research studies have also projected an increase in dementia patients to approximately 65 million by 2030.  The root cause of such an increase has been Alzheimer as it has contributed to increases in dementia cases. As a result, the burden of caring for such patients is a challenge to many people.

Igor Korolev researched a clinical and basic science Review of Alzheimer disease.  The researcher focused on dementia impact of Alzheimer disease.  From his research, Igor finds out that much progress has been achieved in understanding the biology and clinical aspects of the disease. There have been significant improvements that have been made in the characterizing predominate stages of Alzheimer (Gove et al. 2018, pg. 733). Although there is no cure, the ability to find a solution on ways of improving the quality of life of such patients is solely depended on an accurate view of the cellular as well as molecular processes that occur in an awry way.  Besides, there is a need to identify and come up with clinically useful neuroimaging as well as other types of biomarkers for easier diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.

Martin Orrel and Rhiannon Tudor also did research also the challenges facing the life quality of Alzheimer patients. They focused on the use of EQ-5D as a quality of life measure among people with dementia as a result of Alzheimer.  The researcher used a systematic review method of the articles published over the last ten years as a source for research. According to their results, there are challenges faced when it comes to the validity of self-related data. This is because there is a lack of association between patient and proxy ratings.  Based on their research, dementia patients’ quality of life is enhanced when there is a careful selection of assessment mode, including appropriate proxies. This is essential as it helps in enhancing the availability of EQ-5D validity of such patients.  Martin and his colleagues’ research is important as it shows one of the challenges faced in improving the quality of life of Alzheimer patients with dementia (Hounsome, Orrell and Edwards, 2011, pg. 395).

On the other hand, research was done by Vanessa Lawrence, and jane Fossey also showed some of the ways through which we can improve the quality of life of Alzheimer patients.   The study focused on the use of psychosocial interventions impacts of Alzheimer patients. The study used a meta-analysis of qualitative research. According to their research findings, psychosocial interventions helped to meet the needs of the people with dementia and enabled them to socialize with other people (Lawrence et al. 2012, pg. 346).

From the above research studies, it is clear that many scholars in the health sector have tried their best also to identify some of the challenges faced in improving Alzheimer patient’s life quality.  Many of them have focused on the evaluation of the psychosocial interventions and studying the ways to deal with patient’s mental problems in order to know how they can respond to every move of Alzheimer patients (Logsdon, McCurry and Teri, 2010, pg.309). However, there is still a research gap as there is limited information on how patients’ life quality can be improved through assessment of the cognitive decline, maximization of their social interaction in both therapeutically and pharmacological way.

Research Methodology

The research adopted a qualitative research design.  This is because a qualitative research design provides in-depth detail and analysis. The study method involves the use of systematic review research methodology.  A systematic review approach was used in the research on the previous articles based on challenges facing Alzheimer patients’ quality of life and ways we can use to improve such patients’ quality of life. Besides, the main intention of using a systematic research review was to also identify more gaps in the Alzheimer patients issue (Eloranta, and Turunen, 2015, n.d.).

Research Findings

Through a systematic review of the previous articles, the research identified variables that are effective in improving the quality of life of Alzheimer patients.   From the review of the previous research studies, some of them suggest that the foundation of helping Alzheimer patients is knowing the stages of the Alzheimer disease they are in.  The stages of Alzheimer disease are either informing of mild or early stage and the severity of the late stage.  When experiencing cognitive impairment such as poor memory, psychiatrists should tale the first step of identifying whether the patient has minimal cognitive impairment, also referred to as the early Alzheimer disease. An Alzheimer patient should first be notified of the process of screening and also the possible results of the process.

According to research done by Edmund, once a patient has been identified with early-stage Alzheimer disease, there are several treatments and caring techniques that can be applicable and be effective at this stage.  There is a need to obtain optima care if a patient has other conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.  Regular follow of the patients’ health is also another significant step that should be taken (Howe, 2010, n.d.).

Besides, the prescription of the Cholinesterase has also been identified as a possible means of managing Alzheimer patients’ symptoms. However, the method has its side effects and has not enough evidence-based research to support its applications.   In another research, it is suggested that when taking care of patients with early Alzheimer disease, the cognitive decline should not be the main focus. Instead, the main focus should be the patients’ social interaction.  Besides, for family caretakers, such patients should not be subjected to stressful events in social life. This is because such events might detrimental to the patient.

Some of the research studies have also proved that regular conversations are another effective way of ensuring that a patient social life is maintained and not affected by the disease.   Patients with Alzheimer tend to develop dementia characteristics, including the loss of language and memory. Regular conversation enables them to maintain their language skills as well as trigger their memory to remember things they need to tell you during a conversation. As a result, it helps in maintaining their memory in a steady state as the disease progresses to the following stages.  In addition, researchers have also proved the need to encourage patients in the early stages of Alzheimer disease to continue with their daily activities.  As the symptoms of the disease worsen, family caregivers in collaboration with the psychiatrists should always come up with new ways of maximizing the patients’ ability to execute his activities independently however with a little support whenever it is necessary.

According to a research done by Rebecca Logsdon, Susan McCurry and Linda Teri, one way of improving the quality of life of Alzheimer patients is through the use of interventions aimed at reducing depressive symptoms while increasing pleasant events.  Such strategies include; behavioural interventions, progressively lowered stress threshold interventions, maintenance of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) functioning, maintenance of physical strength and mobility, maintenance of cognitive functioning (Logsdon, McCurry and Teri, 2010, n.d.).

When it comes to behavioural therapy interventions, research has shown that many Alzheimer patients showing dementia symptoms are susceptible to loss of pleasant events as well as subsequent mood changes due to their worsening cognitive impairment.  As psychiatrists and family caregivers, it is advisable to use meaningful activities as they provide a sense of efficacy, helps in reducing depression as improving the patient-family bond (Batsch and Mittelman, 2015, n.d.).  In another research study done by Gardner, identified the theory of progressively lowered stress Threshold helps in decreasing behavioural disturbances among the Alzheimer patients and also improve patients’ response to pleasant activities.  Interventions to enhance Activities of daily Lives Functioning among Alzheimer patients is also another strategy for improving the quality of life among Alzheimer patients.

Moreover, Alzheimer patients lose their cognitive ability as the disease progresses to the next stages. However, there are several evidence-based suggestions which have also been seen to be impactful practically. Such activities include regular exercises and physical activity that helps in maintaining or improving the cognitive functions and mobility of patients.

Improving the quality of life among Alzheimer patients is not an easy task. From the review of many research studies, there are several challenges between family caregivers and psychiatrist’s face. For the family and home caregivers of such patients, they lack information on the necessary skills required to help Alzheimer patients live a quality life.  In some cases, Alzheimer disease patient have difficulty in communicating effectively; this makes it hard for family members to understand their needs. Another challenge that has been attributed but has not been given much attention by the researchers is the refusal of such patients to eat (Feast, A., Orrell, et al. 2016, 436). This is a challenge that deteriorates their health.   In addition, such patients are overstimulated by loud or over-reactive activities in the environment.

Conclusion

Alzheimer patients indeed face many challenges. Patients with Alzheimer find it difficult to perform activities in a normal way like other people. Family caregivers are given a hard time due to such challenges discussed in the paper. There are several strategies as a society we need to embrace in order to assist such people to live their life comfortably. Such strategies have been proved through research to help in improving patient quality life across all the stages of the disease. However, there is still a research gap on how we find ways to deal with the challenges faced when improving such peoples’ life quality. Hence promoting the need for further research.

References

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Lawrence, V., Fossey, J., Ballard, C., Moniz-Cook, E. and Murray, J., 2012. Improving quality of life for people with dementia in care homes: making psychosocial interventions work. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 201(5), pp.344-351.

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