Caring for dementia involves a lot of patience and understanding. It should be dealt with audacity and flawlessness to ensure the vulnerable adults’ well-being. Aiding at home or care home required carers to be at their best, physically and emotionally. The responsibility can be distressing but it is rewarding as well since helping dementia adults in their day to day activities is a significant matter for them. However, carers need a pause as over duty can result to substandard nursing. The big question is: who take care for the carers of people with dementia? There is a 5 million estimate of the carers in the UK and figures are foreseen to upscale for the next 40 years to 9 million (O’ Dowd, 2007). With this high number of carers, for whom the carers can ask for support during times when difficulty arises in relation with taking care of people with dementia. There are many issues that can be related to carers of people with dementia. The physical and psychological workload can be attributed as the most common concern among carers (Fjelltun et al., 2009). In addition, O’ Dowd (2007) has stated that carers are more likely to endure more anxiety, and feeling of liability which resulted to carers’ negligence of their own wellbeing. Moreover, carers suffer more stress than those who are not giving care to elderly with dementia. In relation to this, carers’ health is not interrelated with their emotional functioning (Bristow et al., 2008). These different reports suggested that carers undergo psychological issues more notable in comparison with just ordinary people. This can be regarded to carers’ exposure to a stressful environment. Dementia is a complex and progressive condition which is frequently affected by certain conditi... ... middle of paper ... ...of Health. (2010) Dementia. The more we understand the more we can help. Crown: COI Fjelltun, A., Henriksen, N., Norberg, A., Gilje, F., Normann, H. (2009) Nurses’ and carers’ appraisals of workload in care of frail elderly awaiting nursing home placement. Scand J Caring Sci [online] volume 23, p57–66 Available from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=9&hid=2&sid=3f0cc818-facd-44f5-99fc-3c06a0edbd5c%40sessionmgr104 [Accessed 23 March, 2010] Hoskins,S., Coleman,M., McNeely,D. (2005) Stress in carers of individuals with dementia and Community Mental Health Teams: an uncontrolled evaluation study. Blackwell Publishing Ltd: Nursing and health care management and policy Personal Social Services Research Unit. (2007) Dementia UK. London: London School of Economics, King’s College London. O’Dowd, A. (2007) Who else is caring? Nursing older people. Volume 18, p12-14
Rosvik, J., Brooker, D., Mjorud, M. & Kirkevold, O., 2013. What is person-centred care in dementia? Clinical reviews into practice: the development of the VIPS practice model, pp. 155-163, viewed 30 January 2014, < http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.utas.edu.au/docview/1326128887>
Dementia is a disease which causes mental debility and affects one’s way of intelligent, attentiveness, recollection and problem-solving (NHS, 2013). As a result of dysfunction of brain cells in some parts of the brain it affects the thinking process then dementia occurs and it usually comes with age (Ibid). It is estimated that 560 000 people suffer from dementia in England and as a result the NHS and Social Care spend about 3.3billion (National Audit Offices)
Caring for someone with significant health issues is an exhausting and stressful experience and it is hardly surprising that carers are prone to developing ‘burnout’. Observed in nursing, this phenomenon, described as ‘…a haemorrhaging of oneself for others’ is detrimental as stress over-load causes the cognitive and emotional responses to severely malfunction (O’Mahoney, 1983 cited in Farrington, 1997). Carers in this state of mind inevitably develop negative internalised and externalised feelings, including self-depletion, low self-esteem, limited energy, negativity and hopelessness (Taylor and Barling, 2004). A report conducted by Age UK highlights that 6 out of 10 carers suffer damaging conditions related to their mental health, including depression and lack of confidence. Furthermore, these feelings are often intensified by carers’ perseverance which aggravates existing disabilities, such as arthritis, crumbling spine, heart problems and cancer, and leads to further pain (Carers Trust,
(Davidson, F. G.) Due to the nature of dementia being a neuropsychological disorder, those affected by the disease tend to look like they will not require much care, which, in reality, they often require more care than the caregiver originally expected, leading to stress and burnout. Another effect caused by this can be the caregiver blaming themselves by feeling like they are failing to give proper care, which, in reality, can often be very far from the truth. If the caregiver does not receive help from anyone else, the task of watching over the victim becomes a daunting twenty for hour task. Sometimes, the caregiver won’t be allowed quality sleep. Over 66 percent of home caregivers suffer from some form of psychological or physical illness. The most common illness that is resulted from giving care to Alzheimer’s disease is depression. The caregiver needs to monitor their emotional well-being as well as the well-being as the person that they are giving care to. Usually, giving care to those with dementia is actually more stressful than giving care to those with cancer. When the caregiver is a family member and not a professional, the emotional toll is often even greater. It is important for caregivers to remember that they need to take care of themselves first and
care to the residents suffering from dementia. Banner et al (2009 as cited in Lee J.et al.2012)
Ferri et al. (2006), 4.6 million people throughout the world are diagnosed with dementia every year, and the number of people in Europe suffering from dementia will increase to 13 million in 2040; and Wimo et al. (2003) estimates that approximately 63 million worldwide will suffer from this illness by 2030. This has crucial implications since it is an illness that is often associated with long-term care (LTC) in its later stages. However, while long-term care is an important consideration, the quality of life and how people with dementia cope with the illness are also of much concern but unfortunately less dealt into. Dementia can undermine a person’s self-worth and esteem, and affects most aspects of daily living (Preston, Marshall, & Bucks, 2007) affecting one’s quality of life (QOF).
Anne Hoolahan, Janelle Brodaty, Daniel O’Connor 2013 ‘Care planning practices for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in residential aged care’ Vol.44. pp 156-169.
Alzheimer’s Society publish the report on Dementia and how many people are affected in UK
However, this type of care brings a lot of unconditioned difficulties due to the constant care they have to provide the elderly people with dementia. In a recent study it was discovered that caregivers experience stress differently given the circumstance this was shown by analysis of 234 people with dementia (Robertson, Zarit, Duncan, Rovine, & Femia, 2007). The findings were that caregivers in intense and distressed groups experienced higher behaviora...
Nerney, C. (2014, April). Dementia. Lecture conducted from Massachusetts’s College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA.
Dementia is a significant health issue in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2012) (AIHW 2012). Whilst Dementia primarily affects older members of the community, it can also affect young people and has a significant influence on overall health and quality of life (AIHW 2012). The type of Dementia is a determinant in the severity and development of symptoms in individuals (Department of Health 2013) (DoH, 2013). The gradual, progressive and irreversible nature of Dementia has a considerable social and physical impact not only on the individual, but also on family and friends.
Dementia describes a chronic or persistent blend of symptoms that lead to the eventual decline in mental ability. Dementia’s symptoms are caused by brain disease and/or related injuries that can potentially lead to a decline in mental health that is extreme enough to interfere drastically with daily routines. At least two severe impairments of either; memory, communication, focus, perception and judgement are enough to be considered for the development of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Australia1 - approximately over 353,800 Australian civilians have dementia, which is widely expected to increase to 400,000 in the next five years. Alzheimer’s Australia1 also believes that if a cure is not developed, the number of Australian’s living with dementia will increase to an approximate 900,000 by 2050.
This assignment critically discusses about dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementias are elaborated with description about dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discusses about actions nurses should take on while evaluating patients and treating them. Finally, communication, an important Activity of Daily Living (ADL) is explored and patient/carer advice is presented so as to maintain good health conditions in the patient.
The Theory of Caregiver Stress was a significant breakthrough for the reasoning of why caregivers are so deeply affected by this job. “The Theory of Caregiver Stress was derived from the Roy Adaptation Model to use as basis in understanding the relationships among caregivers and the stress faced when caring for a chronically ill relative” (Tsai, 2003). The Theory of Caregiver stress is a middle-range theory used to predict the outcome for stress and other various side effects (Dobratz, 2011). These adverse effects are predicted by: Demographic Characteristics, Burden in Caregiving, Stressful life events, Social Support and Social Roles. Also, because of the multitude of different scenarios and background for both the patient and the caregiver, these categories are necessary to compare and effectively use the results. The theory makes four main assumptions regarding adaption: “environmental change; the caregivers’ perceptions will determine how they will respond to the environmental stimuli; the caregivers’ adaptation is a function of their environmental stimuli and adaptation level, and lastly the caregivers’ effectors are results of chronic caregiving such examples include marital satisfaction and self-...
Leggett, A., Zarit, S., Taylor, A., & Galvin, J. (2010). Stress and burden among caregivers of patients with lewy body dementia. The Gerontologist, 51(1), 76-85.