ASSIGNMENT | My Experience with Chronic and Terminal Illness

Choose one of the chronic illnesses discussed in this module and explain how personality, emotions, stress, coping styles, and/or lifestyle factors play a part in the development and management of the specific illness that you have selected. These are some websites that the instructor wanted us to look at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT7buHr9djw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=tjNB7NB9w6U
I would like you to write about care giving for Alzheimers/Dementia family members. This is what I wrote in my last discussion:
My Experience with Chronic and Terminal Illness

Chronic and terminal illness can affect many members of the family in a variety of ways. There can be a multitude of expressed emotions such as sadness, anger, guilt, anxiety, fear and depression. These negative feelings can take a toll on the family, especially the care givers. I just happen to have quite a bit of experience in that department. I am a care giver to my mother and mother-in-law. My mother is seventy-eight and my mother-in-law is eighty-three. I started caring for my mother six years ago and my in-law one year ago. They both suffer from Alzheimers/Dementia. They are in need of twenty-four hour supervision. I have to cook, clean, take care of their hygiene along with bathroom duties. Caring for them is not an easy task, I had to resign from my full time job of ten years. I think I have experienced just about every emotion I can think of since I started caring for them. Most of the time, I am grateful and happy that I can stay home to care for them and there are other times when I feel so anxious in not having any control of their health situation. I see them deteriorating on a daily basis and I find my self to be very sad and depressed at times. There are occassions that I feel guilty when I start thinking about the past such as if I would have taken my mother to the neurologist eight to ten years ago, perhaps the Alzheimers wouldn\’t have progressed so rapidly and then I go on to think about my mother-in-law about how I didn\’t visit much and I had no idea what her health status was like. Caring for these ladies takes up much of my time and as a result of that I don\’t have much time with my ten year old son. My son often tells me that he wants to spend alone time with me, like going out for lunch or a movie. Activities with my son seldomly happen because finding an inexpensive adult sitter is not so easy. My daughter who is twenty-six years old with three babies of her own tells me that she longs for the day that I can spend more time with her. My day starts at about 6am with breakfast, medication, showers, changing and cleaning. Throughout the day there is more cleaning, lunch and making sure they don\’t fall when they walk. My mother walks around the house non-stop, I have to sit her down sometimes so I can get a break. My day ends around 9 to 10pm, but I have sleepless nights because they both get up to wander and move stuff around the house. I have many roles in my family such as caretaker, mother, grandmother, wife and student and there are times I feel that I need a getaway from all of it. I have very few boring moments in my life, but I would not change it. I know that these experiences are molding me into the person I am to become, a person with compassion, understanding and selfless love.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Research from various disciplines has indicated the role of vascular factors and psychosocial factors such as obesity, diabetes, smoking, social engagements, physical activities and mentally-stimulating activities have a role in protecting or enhancing the development and manifestation of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The disorder as the leading cause of dementia poses serious threats to the health care system in America and other nations, both developed and developing. This is as a result of its rapid increase in the aging population (Bosboom et al., 2012). This paper shall discuss care giving for Alzheimer’s/Dementia family members. Balancing the vast task of care giving for Alzheimer’s patients with other responsibilities requires attention, skill, and careful planning. Therefore, by concentrating so meticulously on patients’ needs will require adequate knowledge on the possible causes and implications of neglecting their health requirements. Studies have shown that socioeconomic status can predict the development of the AD and dementia. The factors considered include education, income, and professional prestige. Through training, family members can learn how to improve communication skills, manage challenging behaviors, and keep the patient with Alzheimer’s free from isolation and loneliness. It has been established that the…