Impact of Caring for a Loved One who has Alzheimer's Disease

Impact of Caring for a Loved One who has Alzheimer's Disease

In this online webinar, Dr Judith Boyland presents the findings of her thesis, which investigates the impact of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease from onset to end-of-life and beyond. The prevalence of Alzheimer's is increasing globally, and the current estimate of people living with the disease is 32.76 million. In Australia, there is a current estimate of 289,177 care receivers, and the projection is that by 2025, there will be 255,800 informal caregivers caring for loved ones with the condition.

Using a qualitative paradigm, Dr Boyland's study employed a hybrid methodology to answer the research question. Thirty-four participants aged between 10 and 90 years shared their stories, including 23 primary caregivers or caregiving partnerships, four significant support persons, and five persons touched by vicarious connection. Through a process of bricolage, data extracts from individual stories were woven across the warp of a methodological hybrid, producing a broad and holistic conceptual landscape of lived experience that features seven themes.

The resulting collective narrative profiles the impact when caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer's and identifies that impact as a process of dynamic transformation. Dr Boyland discusses how repositioning previously conceived perceptions of the intrapersonal relationship with Self and the interpersonal relationships shared with Other embody that transforming process and lead to identity shifts within the imaginal space.

The implications from this study are futures-oriented and signal a call for action. The focus of that action is on caregivers and caregiver need in a multifaceted arena that embraces community awareness, modification to training packages for professional practitioners, service delivery, formal care provision, and enlightened awareness in the professional practice of counseling clinicians, psychotherapists, and professional supervisors. This study provides a holistic snapshot of the impact of caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer's disease and highlights the need for a collaborative approach to improve support for caregivers and their loved ones.

‍