Alzheimer’s Disease and How to Provide Social Support
Alzheimer’s disease can be reached to the best of us, celebrity boxer Muhammad Ali or former President Ronald Reagan are few of the many known figures in our world than have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As we watched and heard they’re heartbreaker stories it allowed us to become aware of what the disease is and the toll it can produce in our lives and the impact in our loved ones. Do you or anyone you know suffer from this chronic disease? If so, keep reading because I will share with you research studies and ways to help better provide social support for the ones you care for most.
Before we jump into research, we first have to define what is Alzheimer’s disease? Alzheimer’s disease as defined in the Health Psychology textbook (2011) is “a degenerative disease of the brain” (Brannon & Feist, 2011, p.280). Both behavioral and environmental play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s, but the biggest risk factor is age (Brannon & Feist, 2011). The early onset begins symptoms after 60 as the early onset begins before 60. As the example of President Reagan, he did not develop this disease until the late onset of his life. Much cognitive impairment takes place, such as memory loss which plays as the main contributor to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. As hard as it is for the person who is diagnosed which can bring out about fear and new adaptations, it is just as difficult for the caregivers of this patients who struggle to make ends meet. The video below gives you a look inside President Reagan's experience:
Research has been conducted in order to further understand the elements faced with Alzheimer’s and the degree of social support that is needed to help improve the quality of life for both individuals and caregivers. Article titled “Behaviour and disturbance other predictors of carer burden in Alzheimer’s disease” by authors Coen, Swanwick, O’ Boyle, and Coackley had conducted a study to further investigate the effects of caregivers on the burden on Alzheimer’s disease patients. Design was formed with two cohorts “one compromising AD patients, the other compromising their primary carers”. Samples of 50 patients meeting the Alzheimer’s disease criteria with an age range of 60-87 were chosen as well as the primary caregivers between the ages of 31-84. Many measures and tests were applied such as The Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Baumgarten et al. Dementia Behaviour Disturbance Scale, the Blessed–Roth Dementia Scale, the Personal Self-Maintenance Scale, the Zarit Burden Interview and the Vaux et al. Social Support Appraisals (SS-A) and Social Support Behaviours (SS-B) Scales (Coen et al., 2010).
Findings found that women more than men feel the burden more and the impairment of the patient did not impose quite. The significant and independent factors in the study that predicted burden on the caregiver’s was the behavioral disturbance and informal social support.
This topic is important for the public and health officials to know because it allows all of us to become aware and knowledgeable of this chronic disease and the ways we can go about in properly taking care of our loved one. This information is important for health psychologists because help patients and the family of patients better cope with all the adaptations and emotions they all experience, on top of making sure they are always adhering to the medical and lifestyle regimen needed to cope. Focusing on just trying to live a normal life as much as possible is the best advice. Don't focus on the disease all day, rather put in the time to and work to motivate and better improve the patient's perceptions of life at this point.
Here's a funny picture I found that I wanted to share with you all that proves the severity of her symptoms, but in a funny way.
References:
Brannon, L., & Feist, J. (2010). An introduction to behavior and health.
Belmont, CA:
Thomson Wadsworth.
Coen, R. F., Swanwick, G. R. J., O'Boyle, C. A. and Coakley, D. (1997),
Behaviour disturbance and other predictors of carer burden in alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12: 331–336.
doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1166(199703)12:3<331::AID-GPS495>3.0.CO;2-J
Youtube Videos:
Picture links:
Dealing With Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis is not an easy thing at all.
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