Elder Adults Alzheimer\'s Disease Is a Brain

¶ … Elder Adults

Alzheimer's disease is a brain disease that is irreversible and progressive which destroys memory and thinking skills slowly and eventually the ability of carrying out even the simplest tests.in most people with Alzheimer's, the symptoms first appear when one is over the age of 60 years. This is the most common cause of dementia among old people (Alzheimer's Association,2012).

Diagnosis of Alzheimer's in elderly adult

As we have seen, age is the greatest risk factor of Alzheimer's disease.it is estimated that one in every fourteen people who are above the age of 65 years and one in every six people who are over the age of 80 years has Alzheimer's disease. Another study shows that one in nine people who are 65 years and older which is estimated as 11% have Alzheimer's disease. The same study shows that a third of people who are over the age of 85 years and older an estimate of 32% have Alzheimer's disease. Of those people who have Alzheimer's disease it is estimated that just 4% of them are below 65 years,13% are between 65 and 70, 44% are 75 to 84 years and 38% of them are 85 years or older (Alzheimer's Association, 2012). This clearly shows that there are higher chances of diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in elderly adults. This does not mean that the disease is restricted to older people. These numerical data is a clear indication that Alzheimer's disease is high in elderly people.

Studies that discuss Alzheimer's disease

Numerous studies have been conducted on Alzheimer's disease. Most of these studies focus on differences in being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in regards to the variations of age, gender and even race.

An illustration of one such study is shown on the table below.

Proportion of Americans Aged 55 and Older with Cognitive Impairment, by Race/Ethnicity,

Age Bracket

55-64

65-74

75-84

Over 85

whites

3%

5%

9%

25%

African-Americans

7%

9%

22%

56%

Hispanic

5%

11%

44%

(Atsali, 2014).

This research indicates that in the U.S. African-Americans are almost twice as likely while Hispanics are one and a half times more likely that older white people to get Alzheimer's disease.. According to studies the difference in prevalence between the races could be due to various reasons like cultural backgrounds. African-Americans have more vascular diseases hence might be a contributing factor to dementia. Vascular disease factors like diabetes and high blood pressure increase the risk of Alzheimer's hence the differences in the rates of the diseases between racial and ethnic groups might be from non-genetic factors. These factors can be reduced through diet change, medication, exercise and education.

Another study involves lifetime risks of Alzheimer's. The two risks on focus are age and sex. The table below shows;

Percentages of prevalence of men and women at different ages;

Ages

65

75

85

Men

10%

12%

14%

Women

19%

23%

24%

(Atsali, 2014).

A different study of same variables gives slightly different results but the same trend is visible..

Ages

65

75

85

Men

9.1%

10.2%

12.1%

women

17.2%

18.5%

20.3%

(Atsali, 2014).

These two studies show that women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's as compared to men. This difference is explained by the fact that women live longer than men and at the same time the changes in hormonal levels play a big role.

Case study;

The case study provided is about an elderly woman Catherine who is brought to counseling by her daughter who is concerned about her condition. From the research conducted we can come to the conclusion that Alzheimer's disease is more prevalent to elderly adults and women as compared to younger adults and men. It would be easy to explain this to Catherine and her family since Catherine is an elder adult and a woman a states which put her at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Legal challenges of working with elder adult clients

When working with elderly adult clients care givers and health practitioners ought to be very careful this is because there are some legal challenges involved .Apart from threats to autonomy, elder adult clients have a problem in admitting that they actually have some of these diseases like Alzheimer's disease. Relationships with spouses, children, grandchildren, and friends often suffer. Such adverse consequences may hinder patients who have this disease from seeking treatment. Confidentiality and privacy is usually fueled by widespread perception that those with Alzheimer's disease are weak and have a mental problem. Therefore when a caregiver is dealing with an elderly adult they must ensure that they make their sessions as private as possible (Big think Editors, 2010).

If this is not done then the practitioners are likely to face some laws which protect these elderly adult clients. For instance the federal law and regulations restrict any communications about individuals who can be identified by programs that are giving treatments to them. State laws give protection to medical and mental health information about clients and patients.in many states these laws offer a wider protection such as special confidentiality laws which explicitly prohibit physicians, psychologists, social workers and others from giving out information about the patient or client without their consent. When working with elder adult's population one has to make sure that they adhere to these laws and that they do not act in a way that will go against these laws.

Ethical and legal implications of this case study

In this study the counselor must ensure that he or she is ethical and legal when dealing with the case. The counselor should ensure that everything they discuss with Catherine remains private and confidential unless Catherine permits the counselor to disclose this information to her daughter. Informed consent plays an important role in this case since the counselor requires an informed consent from Catherine before disclosing any information they share during the sessions with her daughter.my concerns are that the counselor might end up sharing this confidential information with Linda since she is the one who brought Catherine for the sessions and thus deserves to know what is going on. What are your concerns? When working with Catherine I will ensure that I explain to her what Alzheimer's disease is all about and that she can get treatment of the implied disease.