3 minute read
Rationale
The Qatar National Dementia Plan (QNDP) aims to provide clinical help and care for people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). As this plan provides important clinical coverage, it does not provide access to help through elderly homes, where the AD diagnosed elderly is provided with spatial connection.9 A factor that plays a role in the lack of use of professional care in the form of elderly homes for AD patients is the stigma that emphasizes the duties and responsibilities of the family members towards the AD diagnosed elderly. This social stigma provides restrictions and complications for the AD diagnosed elderly, the caregivers, and the society/economy.10
About 80% of AD diagnosed patients live with their family, where the primary source of care is through them. Through the progression of AD, the responsibilities of caregivers increase, up until formal help is required. However, with caregivers providing constant care towards the AD diagnosed elderly, an increase in mental health problems is resulted. It has been reported that prevalence of depression goes as high as 30% in caregivers, which increases the level of anxiety and burden towards the level of care provided.11 The QNDP provides proof of the psychological and social impact on the caretakers. As the plan’s aim is “to outline the future vision framework of services provided for caregivers,” it lightly mentions the need for psychological support towards the caregivers.12 The psychological effect of the AD diagnosed eldelyy reflects on the economy.
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As informal care increases, the more likely it is to find an increase in the progression of AD. Within this negative psychological effect that AD causes to the AD diagnosed patient and their caregivers, arises an economic challenge.13 The individuals that provide care to the AD diagnosed elderly have shown great lack in their work life. 57 percent of caregivers reported early leave from place of employment, in comparison to 46 percent of nondementia caregivers. 18 percent of caregivers have needed to reduce work hours to provide care towards the AD diagnosed elderly, compared to the 13 percent of employees who do not have an AD elderly. Nine percent of caregivers have had to completely give up their work. 14 As caregivers feel burdened by their role towards the AD diagnosed patient, their decisions to leave their jobs can affect the economy, increasing the unemployment rates.15
With the inter-relation of the caregivers and the AD patients, a clear connection of the effects that both subjects have upon the society and upon each other is evident. As this research provides a starting point for understanding the caregiver grief in correlation to the AD diagnosed elderly, a research gap was found where the researchers did not find potential links and reciprocal relationships between the grief of caregivers and the grief of the AD diagnosed elderly. The QNDP identified the same challenge as a lack of coordination between health and social sectors, where there is an emphasis on the imbalance in family relations.16 As it does highlight the research question, it only provides the effect AD has on caregivers and not how the caregivers’ mental strain directly progresses the disease.
To strengthen the objective of the proposal, a more comprehensive understanding of the research gap will be achieved. To acquire the needed research to fill the research gap, a survey/interview will be conducted of the caregiver’s and AD diagnosed elderly’s experience with the disease. A thorough analysis of a day in the life of the caregivers will be studied to provide the psychological link of the caregivers and the AD diagnosed elderly. A more specific academic journal research will be significant to provide the link between AD/dementia experts and psychologist experts.
1. Ministry of Public Health. (n.d.). Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.moph.gov.qa/english/strategies/Supporting-Strategies-and-Frameworks/QatarNationalDementiaPlan/Pages/default. aspx
2. Large, S., & Slinger, R. (2013). Grief in caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia: A qualitative synthesis. Dementia, 14(2), 164-183. doi:10.1177/1471301213494511
3. Castro, D. M., Dillon, C., Machnicki, G., & Allegri, R. F. (2010). The economic cost of Alzheimer’s disease: Family or public health burden?. Dementia & neuropsychologia, 4(4), 262–267. https://doi. org/10.1590/S1980-57642010DN40400003
4. Ministry of Public Health. (n.d.). Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.moph.gov.qa/english/strategies/Supporting-Strategies-and-Frameworks/QatarNationalDementiaPlan/Pages/default. aspx
5. Castro, D. M., Dillon, C., Machnicki, G., & Allegri, R. F. (2010). The economic cost of Alzheimer’s disease: Family or public health burden?. Dementia & neuropsychologia, 4(4), 262–267. https://doi. org/10.1590/S1980-57642010DN40400003
6. “Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” 2018. https://www.alz.org/media/documents/facts-and-figures-2018-r.pdf.
7. Large, Samantha, and Richard Slinger. “Grief in Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia: A Qualitative Synthesis.” Dementia 14, no. 2 (March 2015): 164–83. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1471301213494511.
8. Ministry of Public Health. (n.d.). Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.moph.gov.qa/english/strategies/Supporting-Strategies-and-Frameworks/QatarNationalDementiaPlan/Pages/default. aspx
