Mental disorders in older adults are sometimes overlooked or dismissed as “old age” But there are many circumstances where the problem goes beyond “getting older” and requires attention, but not everyone receives the help they need. In the CJP (Canadian Journal of Psychiatry) an article I discovered had a lot of insightful information on the aging population and their involvement with home care or personal care homes. The study found (from a sample population of 1000) that those who were in a care home, over 87% accounted for those living with mental disorder such as anxiety or schizophrenia and 69% were diagnosed with dementia (Martens, Fransoo, Burland, Burchill, Prior, & Ekuma, 2007) .
In the CJP (Martens, Fransoo, Burland, Burchill, Prior, & Ekuma, 2007) spoke about how people with dementia received homecare three times as much as those who do not have a mental disorder and lived in personal care homes eight times as much those without mental disorder. This really demonstrates the need for both forms of personal care. As the baby boomers are aging, the amount of mental illness including dementia and Alzheimer’s is going to increase.
One of my grandmothers had Alzheimer’s before I was born and my other grandma has had Alzheimer’s for nearly ten years. I’ve seen my only living grandma go from the woman who would ask me how school was going, buy me clothes and cook the most amazing Caribbean food you’ve ever had, to a little girl who cannot dress herself, feed herself and as of late can no longer talk. As painful a journey as it has been my family would not have been able to manage everything unless we put my grandma in a personal care home. This decision is very hard for some people. They don’t want to feel as though they are giving up, but at the same it can become too much. The disease can make a person aggressive, passive, or somewhere in between all which vary day to day. Fighting with my grandma on a daily basis to do simple tasks and scheduling people to be with her all the time was starting to take a toll on the entire family and was making my grandpa very sick.
I look around the home she is at and see the majority of the residents have dementia to some extent, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and other forms if mental illness. These people were doctors, pilots and teachers, they are someone’s mother, father, sister or friend and here they are refusing to eat their lunch for the fourth day in a row because they swear they just ate.
My family is fortunate enough to be able to afford care for my grandmother, but for a lot of families it is not an option. The CJNR (Canadian Journal of Nursing Research) posted an article about family members taking on most of the responsibilities of home care even though many of them are struggling to keep peace in the home. The article touches on many points about the health of caregivers. Many of them end up with health complications due to the stress and high demand of caring for someone ever day, all day. My grandfather is a prime example: We put my grandma in a home once his blood pressure started to give him problems. We really wanted to see if we could manage her care but it was becoming too much to handle.
Many care givers, whether looking after someone who is physically, or mentally disabled can reach a point where they don’t know where to turn and feel as though there is nothing they can do for their loved one. Not being able to afford services may be a problem, but so is not being aware of the services that are available (which are sometimes free) is another problem people can come across, making life more difficult than it has to be (Hawranik & Strain, 2007) . From the CBC website I found an article about caregivers who say they want help but don’t know how to ask. This drives home the point mentioned in the article from the CJNR about how families don’t always know what kind of help is out there and aren’t sure how to get it.
I’ve watched many documentaries, read articles and interviews over the last couple years and there are two films that stand out in my mind. The films are about people with Alzheimer’s and profiles their families and caregivers. “The Alzheimer’s project” is a five part series that aired on HBO. (click on HBO USA) The second film is a documentary called “The Forgetting” from PBS. If you do not have much experience with what it’s like to care for someone who is disabled, you may not be aware of the need for services to help them and the people who care for them. These films will hopefully continue to create awareness and encourage others to get involved. People with mental illness are not always born with it. Some illnesses such as Alzheimer’s may not be the most obvious disease in the beginning stages. But no matter how advanced the disease is, those diagnosed with it are still human and deserve fair treatment, even if they don’t understand the difference between frozen peas or cooked ones.
Jennilee M.
Hawranik, P. G., & Strain, L. A. (2007). Giving voice to informal caregivers of
Older Adults: Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 156-172.
Older Adults: Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 156-172.
Martens, P. J., Fransoo, R., Burland, E., Burchill, C., Prior, H. J., & Ekuma, O.
(2007). Prevalence of Mental Illness and Its Impact on the Use of Home
Care and Nursing Homes: A Population-Based Study of Older Adults in
Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 581-590.
(2007). Prevalence of Mental Illness and Its Impact on the Use of Home
Care and Nursing Homes: A Population-Based Study of Older Adults in
Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 581-590.
This blog is great, there is so much information. I couldn't believe that 69% of old people were diagnosed with dementia. That seems like such a high percent. What is the difference between demntia and Alzheimer’s? I can see how diseases like these are past off as "old age", most old people and put in care homes when there's no one to look after them or they can't look after themselves. Since your Grandmother had it is there a chance that you could get it?
ReplyDelete- Samantha G 7637608
I completely agree with you, the elderly are incredible undervalued. They spend their lives paying taxes and contributing to society only to be placed in a facility. Elderly who suffer from Alzheimer’s or dimension are at high risk of being neglected, it can be frustrating to see someone deteriorate to the point where you may take your frustrations out on them. The healthcare system needs to monitor the staff, to make sure they’re not taking advantage of their patients. The government needs to put more funding into re-search and specific programs to aid family members.
ReplyDeleteHolly L
That must put a lot of stress on your family whether to have your grandmother in a home or to take care of her. That’s a very complicated predicament to be in. With mental illness, I often wonder are these people sick or is their environment unhealthy? As people age they tend to retire and become bored. With a lack of things to accomplish and loss of independence, I’m sure this contributes to illness. My father has retired at 55 and I noticed a huge change in him. He often complains of being lonely and isolated. I encourage him to join a bowling league or get a part time job, but he refuses. It can be very frustrating and I appreciate you sharing your story about your grandmother. Great statistics, it shows how mental illness can affect so many.
ReplyDeleteValene
Hey Jennilee,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your Grandma- but good post covering the issues around health care and dementia/Alzheimers. It is such a rough decision with what to do when family members suffer from dementia. My late grandma suffered from it and I know what you mean about the slide and then not being able to talk. It seems to happen so slow but yet so fast depending on how often you visit. My grandpa managed to take care of my grandma for about 4 years when she was basically bed bound but then gave up when she fell. Then he put her in a nursing home- and yes it is a hard place. The worst part is when a older person in the home would come up to me and ask me things like "If you see my mom or dad, can u tell them I don't like it here and want to go home." Also I knew some people there would yell at their family for never visiting when they were there yesterday. For me the hardest part of it is the reaction of family members. Some of my family was uncomfortable visiting grandma in such a state and did not, or went once a year. I see it as such a sign of the times, or maybe society, that maybe we are losing respect for our older family members. I remember the major cost too- it was $1500 a month at my grandma's home and I wondered what happens to those who cannot afford such high costs? I certainly hope as Canada's population gets older we find more solutions to keeping people in less institutionalized settings. I think it should be a stimulating environment with plants, colours and lots of music, what do you think?
David H.
Samantha, it's not 69% of all older people who have dementia, but 69% of those in long term care.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJennilee very interesting post. I can tell this issue must hit home with you. I was particularly astonished with the high number of people in personal care homes suffering from one or more mental illness. I was also shocked by David's comment that the cost of a personal care home for one month is close to a month's mortgage payment! Insane. I think that Alzheimer’s and dementia is a disheartening disease and I thank you for sharing your family’s hardships with the disease.
ReplyDeleteTara
Samantha,
ReplyDeletedementia and Alzheimer's are related but get confused since they are so similar. From my understanding, and what I've read about it Alzheimer's is a common form of dementia afftecting memory over a period of time. Dementia tends to develop later in life and is a more broad illness afftecting language, memory, mobility, problem solving, understanding etc.
There is still a lot of research being done on Alzheimer's including whether the condition is hereditary or not. I'm not sure if my chances are greater than anyone else. My grandmothers parents did not have the disease but who am I to say my parents will get it and then it will skip a generation? I certainly hope I do not develop the disease, it can begin as early as 45 or 50. I have a family friend who is as progressed as my grandmother and is only 56 or 57. All I can do is hope I'd have the support my grandmothers did.
David,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, the cost of care homes is very high. We were trying to decide where to draw the line with costs. "do we take the private room for $2000 a month so she has her own bathroom? or do we let her share with someone else and save $500". The downside is her stuff is always missing and I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to go to the bathroom and have someone walk in..
I've had residents sit next to me in the common areas and say "so you're waiting for the bus too?" and I just go along with it because at least she is hopeful for SOMETHING and once she gets on that bus she is going to visit her husband (who died 6 years ago but it isn't worth making her upset all over again).
I also agree with you that the environment should be a stimulating one. I can say I'm very fortunate my grandma made it into a beautiful home with plants and painted walls,and an area outside that is safely closed in. But I know there are homes with few staff, they are run down and have little on the walls, and it pains me to see the boredom and sadness on the residents faces.