Caring for the Loved One: Educating the Caregiver in Alzheimer's Disease

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maheen M. Adamson
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Loved One

Caring for a Loved One With Alzheimer’s Disease

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 579-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Van Liew ◽  
Terry A. Cronan
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Social Burden ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with considerable caregiver and social burden. It is important to examine ways to minimize the negative effects of AD. Health care advocates (HCAs) may be one means of limiting the aversive effects of AD. Method: Participants completed a short survey that assessed their perceptions of the impact of comorbid AD on health status and their likelihood of hiring an HCA to assist in managing it. A mediational model was proposed: cognitive status (AD vs cognitively healthy) was the independent variable, perception of severity was the mediator, and the probability of hiring an HCA was the dependent variable. Results: The results indicated that the relationship between cognitive status and probability of hiring an HCA was fully mediated by perceptions of severity. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that participants appreciated the impact of AD on health status, and this translated into a greater probability of hiring an HCA.

The Identity Maintenance Work of Family Members of Persons with Alzheimer's Disease

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel MacRae
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Identity Transformation ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Identity Maintenance ◽  
Loss Of Self ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Maintenance Work

ABSTRACTDrawing on a qualitative study of families' experience with Alzheimer's disease, this paper examines family members' reaction to identity transformation or loss of self in the afflicted loved one, using a symbolic interactionist perspective. The findings show that family members find this aspect of the disease emotionally stressful. Refusing to let go of what remains of the loved one's former self, they employ a number of strategies in an effort to protect her/his social and self-identity. These strategies include concealing information, medicalizing inappropriate behaviour, fostering independence, managing appearance, and perceiving selectively.

scholarly journals Pursuing Both Breadth and Depth in Qualitative Research: Illustrated by a Study of the Experience of Intimate Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer's Disease

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Les Todres ◽  
Kathleen Galvin
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Complementary Relationship ◽  
Generic Qualitative Study ◽  
Generic Qualitative ◽  
Two Phases

In this article, the authors explore the methodological and epistemological tensions between breadth and depth with reference to a study into the experience of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. They consider the benefits and limitations of each of two phases of the study: a generic qualitative study of narrative breadth and a descriptive phenomenological study of lifeworld depth into selected phenomena. The article concludes with a reflection on the kinds of distinctive knowledge generated by each of these two phases and the benefits of their complementary relationship with one another.

The self that remains: a symbolic analysis of the psychological death of the self in Alzheimer's disease

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-109
Author(s):  
Kesstan Blandin
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Symbolic Analysis ◽  
The Self ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Evolution Of Consciousness ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Temporal Identity ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACTIn Alzheimer's disease, we witness a psychologicaldeath of the selfbefore physical death. The unraveling of the self that occurs in Alzheimer's disease is a classic underworld journey, through which the deceased undergo a dismantling of memory and temporal identity to become shades of the Underworld. Through stories of family members living with dementia in a loved one, Alzheimer's disease reveals a descent into an irrational, symbolic, and timeless otherworld. This unique dying process provides insight into a degeneration and death of self and identity that is always occurring in the undergrowth of individuation. Individuation, as explicated through Greek eschatology, has two aspects: a general, phylogeneticHomericprocess, and an ontogeneticOrphicprocess characterized by intentional participation in one's own evolution of consciousness. Analyses of an archetypal death, a symbolic birth, and the self that remains as temporal identity is deconstructed through dementia conclude the article.

How do you build your care team?

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-236
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Budson ◽  
Maureen K. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Respite Care ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Overnight Stay ◽  
National Organizations ◽  
Day Program

No one person can manage the demands of dementia alone. Building a strong care team early following a diagnosis is critical to your wellbeing and to providing your loved one with the best care. By reaching out to family, friends, neighbors, and professional caregivers, you can limit your burden, reduce your feelings of isolation, and create a healthier environment for you and your loved one. Your loved one’s doctor should be a source of help as well. Support groups can provide you with information and important skills in addition to emotional support. Whether as a day program or overnight stay, respite care may be an invaluable resource for you. National organizations dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can also be an invaluable resource.

How do you build your care team?

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-236
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Budson ◽  
Maureen K. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Respite Care ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Overnight Stay ◽  
National Organizations ◽  
Day Program

No one person can manage the demands of dementia alone. Building a strong care team early following a diagnosis is critical to your wellbeing and to providing your loved one with the best care. By reaching out to family, friends, neighbors, and professional caregivers, you can limit your burden, reduce your feelings of isolation, and create a healthier environment for you and your loved one. Your loved one’s doctor should be a source of help as well. Support groups can provide you with information and important skills in addition to emotional support. Whether as a day program or overnight stay, respite care may be an invaluable resource for you. National organizations dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can also be an invaluable resource.

Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Budson ◽  
Maureen K. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Clinical Vignettes ◽  
Caregiver Needs ◽  
Eventual Death ◽  
With Memory

Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: A Guide for Families explains everything that a family member or other caregiver needs to care for their loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, all the way from the mild stage through death—and beyond. It begins by explaining Alzheimer’s and dementia, and how to manage problems with memory, language, vision, emotion, behavior, sleep, and bodily functions. Next discussed are which medications help—and which make things worse. Caring for yourself and building a care team are then covered, as well as how to sustain your relationship. Final chapters discuss the progression of dementia, the eventual death, and how to plan for life afterward. It is written in an easy-to-read style, featuring clinical vignettes and character-based stories that provide real-life examples of how to successfully manage Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

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