Alzheimer’s Disease – Influence on Female Caregivers’ Living and Mental Health

Abstract

Demencija je javnozdravstveni problem koji će postati sve vidljiviji kako stanovništvo stari. Danas u svijetu živi 50 milijuna ljudi oboljelih od demencije, a procjenjuje se da će do 2030. broj oboljelih narasti na 65,7 milijuna, odnosno na 115,4 milijuna oboljelih do 2050. godine. Danas kada demenciju nastojimo dijagnosticirati što ranije, bitno je oboljelima i njihovim obiteljima ponuditi kontinuirani i što kvalitetniji program liječenja i skrbi. U ovom radu željeli smo pokazati koji su glavni problemi vezani uz Alzheimerovu bolest i druge demencije u suvremenom svijetu, a bitno utječu na život žena njegovatelja. Opisan je utjecaj na žene koje skrbe za ljude s demencijom u ulozi profesionalnog njegovatelja i na žene koje preuzimaju ulogu neformalnog njegovatelja osobe oboljele od demencije. Rano prepoznavanje emocionalnog stresa kod njegovatelja nužno je kako bi se uspjelo preventivno djelovati (savjetovanje, suportivna psihoterapija, kognitivno-bihevioralni tretman), te spriječiti razvoj ili pogoršanje već postojećih tjelesnih bolesti (npr. kardiovaskularnih), odnosno mentalnih poremećaja od kojih su, osim nesanice, najčešći anksioznost i depresivnost. / Dementia is a public health problem that will become more obvious as the population grows older. There are 50 million people with dementia in the world, and it is estimated that the number of people with dementia will rise to 65.7 million by 2030, and 115.4 million by 2050. At present, we are trying to diagnose dementia as early as possible, and it is important to offer patients and their families a continuous and high-quality program of treatment and care. In this article, we wanted to show the main problems connected with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in the modern world which influence the lives of female caregivers. The influence on women who take care of people with dementia as professional caregivers, as well as women who take the role of an informal caregiver of a person with dementia has been described. Early recognition of emotional stress in caregivers is necessary for successful preventive actions (counselling, supportive psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural treatment) and for preventing the development or worsening of already existing somatic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular), as well as mental disorders, among which, apart from insomnia, anxiety and depression are the most common forms.

Online behavior of the alzheimer's disease patient caregivers on croatian online discussion forum

“…The examination of relevant literature in English and Croatian reveals general agreement that AD, in the words of Marc Wortmann, is as much an economic and fiscal disaster as it is a social and health challenge, and that its impact on societies with an increasingly aging population is growing dramatically (Alzheimer's Disease International, 2012). This presumption has led scholars from around the world to address the diverse needs of AD patients and their informal CGs (Edelman et al, 2006), and also to explore unmet needs (e.g., Lai & Chung, 2007;Tatangelo et al, 2018), support and service utilization (Lethin et al, 2016), and challenges and barriers CGs experience when caring for their family members diagnosed with AD (e.g., Arévalo-Flechas et al, 2014;Brodaty & Donkin, 2009;Kucmanski et al, 2016;Rosa et al, 2009;Uzun et al, 2019;Vaingankar et al, 2013) in order to maximize service utilization by CGs and minimize their burden.…”

“…As care needs change over the years as patients move from initial to final stages of the disease, CGs do not know how to cope with this illness. They do not receive the required formal assistance and support, and they have poor knowledge of available services, even when they exist (Mimica et al, ; Rušac, ; Uzun et al, ). Interestingly though, Van der Roest et al (, ) point out that even in Western European countries where various professional support services are available, CG needs often remain unmet because they have difficulties in finding the appropriate services, and professional care seems to be insufficiently attuned to their needs.…”