Supporting Adults with Alzheimer's Disease

In most industrialized nations, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent health issues affecting the elderly.

The hunt for a treatment or preventive measures for Alzheimer's continues, but there is still no medication that can slow or stop the illness. In the past, researchers have only been successful in developing a treatment that can stop the worsening of Alzheimer's disease signs, claim Chen and Miller (2017). The main component of this solution was the application of a cutting-edge method where amyloidogenic supposition of Alzheimer's disease-peptide A, which is the causal agent of neuronal death and brain impairment, was assumed. As a future researcher in the field of Alzheimer's disease among other neurocognitive conditions, it is of essence that I stay conscious of all the upcoming trends of treating AD. The absence of a cure for Alzheimer's has put scientists back to work as they try to figure out the proper way of supporting the patient after diagnosis.

Multiple researchers and authors working to ensure patient support

Multiple researchers and authors are working to ensure that the world stays up to date on matters about Alzheimer's particularly about how to take care of the patient. In this essay is going to assess two publications by researchers who are dedicated to ensuring that Alzheimer’s disease patients get the needed support during their lowest moments.

Choosing the most credible source

Over the years as a student, my lecturer regularly quoted some researchers and authors. Therefore, when started searching for academic journals my first instinct directed me to publications mentioned by my Instructor. Using online sources, my search for more journals on Alzheimer’s led me to an Academic Journal Article titled: supporting adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other related Neurocognitive disorders (3.551), Most Cited Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions Articles (0.970) and Alzheimer's Disease Clinical and Research Update for Health Care Practitioners (2.581).

At this point, I now had to choose one journal to work with; the most credible source of information I needed. This part was quite easy as all I did was to look at the SJR number (listed right next to each journal's title). The journal with the highest SJR number, in this case, was supporting adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other related Neurocognitive disorders; therefore the most credible was by Stacy Small Field who has written about helping adults with Alzheimer's condition and other correlated Neurocognitive syndromes as well as their care providers. The other sources also had helpful information, but they were out dated as per the recommended academic standards.

Comparison between academic and news articles

After this, I went back to Google Search engine. This time I was in search of the most recently published articles on Alzheimer's and other related neurocognitive disorders. I chose a news article titled "Which team approach works best for Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes?" by Mike McNulty (2017). After the selection of both the academic journal articles and news articles, it was now time to compare the credibility of the two articles as contemporary sources of Alzheimer's and other related neurocognitive conditions.

Different perspectives on treating Alzheimer's patients

Older adults who suffer from AD are often taken to nursing homes, as they need to be closely monitored and offered with a comprehensive health care; the patient’s loved ones may not be in a position to care for them due to work related demands, among other engagements. For this reason, a nursing home would be a good option as they have all the required personnel to care for a patient.

These two articles present two different perspectives of how to treat people living with AD. Mike (2017) writes about a study that is underway; a team of experts will be examining the two models that have been used to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia. In the multidisciplinary design, each care provider treats a patient independently and in the interdisciplinary model where caregivers offer treatment to patients as a team. Over the years, the two approaches have shown positive results, but there has been no conclusion to explain which method is more efficient than the other. Stacy (2017) on the other hand shows the research carried out on how to support the AD patients by use of occupational therapy practice on a daily basis and the results of the study. The research here is already complete; making it easy to analyze the results of the various studies.

Different target audiences

In the first paragraph, Stacy (2017) acknowledged that occupational therapy practice could be carried out by any care provider to improve the cognitive abilities of the patient. The article also indicates that one can use home systems to monitor the patient giving them a false sense of independence. Since the article mainly talks about how to take care of an AD patient, the primarily targeted audiences were caregivers. Stacy Small field’s article also informs the general public on how to support loved ones who are diagnosed with AD. In the article written by Mike (2017), the two models mentioned; the multidisciplinary model and interdisciplinary model have previously been used in nursing homes to treat AD and dementia patients. Knowing which model is more efficient will go a long way to improve the cognitive ability and general life quality for the patients and make it much easier to care for the patient. For this reason, the targeted audiences for this article are the care providers more so the nurses taking care of patients in various nursing homes. The results of this study will help them choose the most effective approach to treat their patients.

Different levels of research completion and credibility

Contrastingly, Stacy (2017) has listed multiple qualified researchers and a clear description of the study results. This shows that the research on occupational therapy approach is useful and has yielded positive results in the treatment of Alzheimer's syndrome and dementia. Though models recommended by Mike (2017) are also useful, the unavailability of the results of the study leaves the reader asking questions of what the findings were.

Comparing two articles on Alzheimer's

Over the years, I have read multiple articles on Alzheimer's syndrome and other related neurocognitive conditions, but I have a delightful time comparing the two articles, which were in one way or another discussing a similar topic. I found the experience in reading Stacy (2017) kind of interesting as it had extensive information to support the research. I also enjoyed reading Mike (2017) as it showed that researchers are still working tirelessly to find an effective way to treat the AD patients though it didn’t quite let the reader know what findings would be expected.

Continuing the study on Alzheimer's

Though I was quite apprehensive of how much can be done for AD patients, I have learned so much, and I would love to continue with this course next semester. I believe much can be done to assist them; occupational therapy practices and both the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary models of treatment and I am more eager than ever to study more about it.

References

Chen, K. H., Lwi, S. J., Hua, A. Y., Haase, C. M., Miller, B. L., & Levenson, R. W. (2017).

Increased subjective experience of non-target emotions in patients with frontotemporal

000dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences,

15, 77-84.

Academic Journal Article: Small field, S. (2017). Supporting Adults with Alzheimer's

Disease and Related Major Neurocognitive Disorders and Their Caregivers:

Effective Occupational Therapy Interventions. American Journal Of Occupational

Therapy, 71(5), 1-4. doi:10.5014/ajot.2017.715002

Online News Article: McNulty, M. (2017, August 23). Which team approach works best for

Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes? Retrieved September 01, 2017, from

https://news.usc.edu/126671/which-team-approach-works-best-for-people-with-alzheimers-in-nursing-homes/