Running head: SPECIFIC AIMS

The Alzheimers Disease Specific Aims

Darlyn Bretous
Mercy College

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SPECIFIC AIMS
The Alzheimers Disease
The main aim of the study is to examine the home-care-nursing experiences of family
members of patients suffering from Alzheimer. According to Yektatalab (2013), it is
recommended that Alzheimer patients be admitted into nursing homes to receive high-quality
care. When dealing with the Alzheimer patients experiencing behavioral disturbances and
cognitive deficits, care becomes a multidimensional phenomenon that entails cultural experience
and challenging domain in the medical field. Statistical evidence shows that there are
approximately 27 million people suffering from the Alzheimer disease worldwide.
Moreover, the statistical projections indicate, there will be one million new cases of
Alzheimer disease every year leading to a high increase in the total number of Alzheimer patients
in the world. For instance, Iran has a total number of 250,000 patients suffering from the
Alzheimer disease. Currently, most health care institutions are struggling to provide quality care
due to the overwhelming number of patients with Alzheimer disease. Due to the rapid increase in
Alzheimer cases in the world, there is a need to develop a comprehensive care system to handle
patients with the AD. The role that the formal caregivers play cannot be overstated since they
provide suitable care as well as creating a conducive environment for patients with AD in
nursing homes. Therefore, more formal caregivers should be under employment and have
attachment to different nursing homes to meet the high demand for the Alzheimer disease care.
There are many challenges that formal caregivers face on a daily basis when caring for
Alzheimer patients in nursing homes. Yaktatalab (2012) reveal that caregivers find it even more
challenging when handling patients with dementia. They experience physically and emotionally
draining challenges that leave them with heavy psychological and physical workloads in the
course of their duty. The intense participation of caregivers with inhabitants is a major stressor

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SPECIFIC AIMS
that may result to personnel burnout. They affect as well as the ability of official caregivers to
give quality care to this nursing homes (Yektatalab, 2013).
According to Navab, Nagarandeh, and Peyrovi, ageing is the risk factor that exposes
people to Alzheimer disease. The rise in the number of people who are ageing leads to increase
in the cases of Alzheimer diseases. The disease affects approximately 6% of the ageing
population aged above 65 years old. The rise in the number of people suffering from Alzheimer
disease has led to an increase in the number of informal family caregivers due to a shortage of
formal caregivers. Formal nursing caregivers have been overwhelmed by a large number of
people with AD. Therefore, informal family caregivers provide significant care to supplement the
care provided by the formal caregivers. Family members of Alzheimer patients provide more
care for extended durations than ever before. Health care providers are advocating for homebased healthcare to provide long-term care for Alzheimer patients. The system also enables the
families to avoid spending more money on seeking services from formal caregivers in a given
health care system. Caring for AD patients at home enables them to receive quality improved
care from their family members. Nurses play a crucial role in supporting and providing essential
information for family caregivers to enable them to take good care of their loved ones suffering
from the Alzheimer disease (Navab, Negarandeh & Peyrovi, 2013).
The aims of the study are:

To determine how the culture of family caregivers impacts on their delivery of care.

To determine the knowledge of family caregivers regarding the Alzheimer disease.

To determine the attitude of family caregivers towards Alzheimer patients.

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SPECIFIC AIMS
The research question for the study will be:

What are the home-care-nursing experiences of family caregivers dealing with patients with

the Alzheimer disease?

Ther is no research hypothesis for the study .

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SPECIFIC AIMS
References
Navab, E., Negarandeh, R., & Peyrovi, H. (2012). Lived experiences of Iranian family member
caregivers of persons with Alzheimers disease: Caring as captured in the whirlpool of
time. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 7-8, 1078-1086.
Yektatalab, S. (2013). Living with and Caring for Patients with Alzheimers Disease in
Nursing Homes. J Caring Sci, 2 (3): 187-195. Doi: 10.5681/jcs.2013.023.