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1 – 10 of over 1000Andrew S. London and Janet M. Wilmoth
To conduct an exploratory mixed-methods study of attitudes toward extramarital relationships in the context of spousal Alzheimer’s disease.
Abstract
Purpose
To conduct an exploratory mixed-methods study of attitudes toward extramarital relationships in the context of spousal Alzheimer’s disease.
Design
We present descriptive analyses of quantitative data from the National Social, Health, and Aging Project and of qualitative comments posted online by readers of newspaper articles that focus on extramarital relationships in the context of caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease.
Findings
Analyses of the quantitative data indicate the Alzheimer’s caregivers report more negative attitudes toward extramarital sex in the context of spousal Alzheimer’s disease. However, this difference is driven by non-spousal caregivers’ attitudes; spousal caregivers have substantially less negative attitudes. Analyses of public comments suggest that those who are most negative are focused on traditional religious and family values. Those who express less negative attitudes espouse a compassionate pragmatism that makes allowances for caregiver needs in the context of managing the difficulties of the spouse-caregiver role.
Research limitations
Quantitative data are limited by the small number of Alzheimer’s caregivers; qualitative analyses are based on a convenience sample of online comments.
Practical implications
Findings can inform future research, educational initiatives for professionals, the media, and people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their family members.
Social implications
The number of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and spousal caregivers will increase as the Baby Boomer generation ages. Norms regarding extramarital relationships in the context of caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease are evolving.
Originality
Little social scientific research examines attitudes toward extramarital relationships in the context of spousal Alzheimer’s disease.
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Sharna McQuillan, Sunny Kalsy, Jan Oyebode, Dave Millichap, Chris Oliver and Scott Hall
Adults with Down's Syndrome are at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in later life. This paper gives an overview of the current research in the area and discusses the…
Abstract
Adults with Down's Syndrome are at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in later life. This paper gives an overview of the current research in the area and discusses the implications it raises for individuals, carers and service providers. Information on the link between Down's Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease and prevalence rates are given. The clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and a stage model documenting the progression of the disease are presented. Attention is drawn to the problems inherent in assessing and diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in a person with a pre‐existing learning disability. The importance of a thorough assessment procedure and guidelines for assessment methods are highlighted. The paper also discusses the management of Alzheimer's disease and focuses on care management practices and recommendations for service provision. Guidelines for supporting individuals include maintaining skills, adopting a person‐centred approach, implementing psychosocial interventions and multidisciplinary care management. Finally, high prevalence rates of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down's Syndrome and increasing life spans are highlighted as a particular concern, and recommendations for the future include increasing education and awareness, implementing screening services, improving assessment methods and developing appropriate services.
The importance of libraries as centers for the distribution of material dealing with the concerns of the elderly was highlighted recently in an open letter to state library…
Abstract
The importance of libraries as centers for the distribution of material dealing with the concerns of the elderly was highlighted recently in an open letter to state library associations from Bessie B. Moore, vice‐chairperson of the National Commission of Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). She wrote:
Alberto Brunete González, Micheline Selmes and Jacques Selmes
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the needs of people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers in terms of information and communications technology (ICT) and home…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the needs of people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers in terms of information and communications technology (ICT) and home automation, and how to foster the use of smart devices in their homes and also, to determine whether the use of ICT can extend people with Alzheimer’s disease stay at home in the first stages of the illness, while facilitating their caregivers’ tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
Groups of caregivers, ICT researchers and Alzheimer’s disease experts were gathered to discuss the utility of several solutions. Sessions were grouped into four topics: safety, leisure, activities of daily living and friendly atmosphere. In total, 23 ICT-based solutions to improve life at home of people with Alzheimer’s disease were analysed and grouped under “no interest”, “some interest” and “very interesting”. Caregivers rated these solutions and suggested improvements to them.
Findings
In total, 18 out of 23 proposals were considered “very interesting”, meaning that caregivers considered that they could truly improve the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Caregivers also suggested how to progressively introduce these technical solutions into their homes.
Originality/value
ICT and home automation advances could be very useful if used conveniently. Caregivers consider that smart homes can help people with Alzheimer’s disease in the security, leisure and daily tasks fields, increasing the time they can live alone in their own homes.
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In 1906 a German doctor, Louis Alzheimer, first recognized the brain abnormalities that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. These abnormalities include clumps of dead brain…
Abstract
In 1906 a German doctor, Louis Alzheimer, first recognized the brain abnormalities that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. These abnormalities include clumps of dead brain cells (plaque) and tangled nerve fibers. In subsequent years more research was done on the causes and effects of Alzheimer's. Primarily found in people over age 65, the disease creates a loss of memory to the extent that the patient cannot engage in day‐to‐day activities. Current memories are the most affected; childhood memories are often left intact.
Purpose – To explore how home care social worker perceptions of their organizations' dominant goals and means affect direct service home care professionals' care delivery and…
Abstract
Purpose – To explore how home care social worker perceptions of their organizations' dominant goals and means affect direct service home care professionals' care delivery and meeting of patient needs for persons with Alzheimer's disease.
Methodology/approach – The study used a convenience sample of 34 home care social workers in the New York City metropolitan area and an extensive literature review.
Findings – The study found that literature indicates a dissonance between effective, evidence-based research psychosocial Alzheimer's disease interventions and Medicare home health policy which does not cover their use. Furthermore, interviews indicated home care social workers' different strategies to cope with organization demands, which affect their perceptions and care delivered to patients. The coping strategies are characterized using a modified version of Merton's (1957) adaptation model – conformist, innovator, and rebel.
Contribution to the field – The study is the first to use the voice of home care social workers to explore how perceptions of organizational dominant goals and means affect direct service home care professionals' care delivery and meeting of patient needs. The study asserts the need for a home care-based policy model drawing on the Hospice Medicare Benefit (HMB) to address Alzheimer's disease more cost-effectively with a more positive quality of life manner, thus limiting the adverse consequences of the evolving epidemic.
Markus König, Christian Pfarr and Peter Zweifel
Preferences of both Alzheimer patients and their spouse caregivers are related to a willingness-to-pay (WTP) measure which is used to test for the presence of mutual (rather than…
Abstract
Purpose
Preferences of both Alzheimer patients and their spouse caregivers are related to a willingness-to-pay (WTP) measure which is used to test for the presence of mutual (rather than conventional unilateral) altruism.
Methodology
Contingent valuation experiments were conducted in 2000–2002, involving 126 Alzheimer patients and their caregiving spouses living in the Zurich metropolitan area (Switzerland). WTP values for three hypothetical treatments of the demented patient were elicited. The treatment Stabilization prevents the worsening of the disease, bringing dementia to a standstill. Cure restores patient health to its original level. In No burden, dementia takes its normal course while caregiver’s burden is reduced to its level before the disease.
Findings
The three different types of therapies are reflected in different WTP values of both caregivers and patients, suggesting that moderate levels of Alzheimer’s disease still permit clear expression of preference. According to the WTP values found, patients do not rank Cure higher than No burden, implying that their preferences are entirely altruistic. Caregiving spouses rank Cure before Burden, reflecting less than perfect altruism which accounts for some 40 percent of their total WTP. Still, this constitutes evidence of mutual altruism.
Value
The evidence suggests that WTP values reflect individuals’ preferences even in Alzheimer patients. The estimates suggest that an economically successful treatment should provide relief to caregivers, with its curative benefits being of secondary importance.
Eman Al-Zyoud, Mahmoud Maharmeh and Muayyad Ahmad
This paper aims to describe and understand the family experience of caregiving to their Alzheimer patients and to explore the impact of caregiving on the family’s caregiver…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe and understand the family experience of caregiving to their Alzheimer patients and to explore the impact of caregiving on the family’s caregiver well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved eight family caregivers from the outpatient department, specifically from the neurology-medical clinic. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used for data collection through in-depth semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Four themes emerged: caregiver perception, tension, the sense of duty and commitment and altruism and sacrifice. The experience of family caregivers was different from their experiences with other chronic illnesses.
Originality/value
The family caregivers experience new life when providing care to their patients with Alzheimer's. The impact of the process of caregiving on whole life appeared in both positive and negative aspects. The perception and awareness of family caregivers toward Alzheimer’s disease were poor.
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