Degenerative Nerve Disease

I will discuss the dementia-related studies (Wei, 2001; Jockey Club Center for Positive Ageing et al. 2005 ) from the following perspectives:

(1) What is generally agreed upon?

From those two studies, we can see that a lot of people still did not get enough knowledge about this dementia-related disease during the time of the survey.

(2) Where are the differences of view in two studies?

There seems to be no obvious difference in view. The people in Hong Kong (2nd survey) appeared to think that dementia is not a serious problem because about half of the population surveyed believed that dementia is treatable and only affects one’s memory.

The interviewees in the first survey thought that dementia can affect daily life. However, the unavailability of the questionnaires in both cases makes it difficult to draw a conclusion.

(3) What issues are still problematic and therefore appropriate foci for further research?

Although health education can improve one’s knowledge about a disease; but simply having knowledge does not mean that it can improve one’s attitude and keep a healthy lifestyle. What then can improve the attitude and behavior?

So I want to conduct research to search the answer. Will life experience improve the attitude? This is an important part of the interaction between teaching and learning. Infusion of knowledge alone will not change a person’s behavior.

(4) Are some of the studies weaker than others in argument or design?

The Hong Kong survey is weaker in the sense that it lacks intervention. The Taiwan survey is weaker in design because of a smaller sample size.

(5) How do these weaknesses affect overview?

Both studies are conducted several years ago, so I want to know the present situation. The aging situation is gradually becoming more serious in modern society.

In fact, dementia is a degenerative brain disease. The so-called vascular dementia and elderly dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) are currently the two most common types of dementia.

Vascular dementia is usually caused by stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease is generally referred to as elderly dementia. I notice that there is a serious situation regarding dementia as the population ages. This concern triggers me to discover more facts.

In the different types of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease comprises the most (about 60%), followed by vascular dementia (about 30%). Every elderly dementia represents a family, meaning that a family has to face hard work to take care of the elderly with dementia.

According to statistics, in 2001, every nine working people support an elderly person; and in 2011, 7 working individuals have to support an elderly person. Furthermore, every four working individuals have to support an elderly person in the year 2024. If you are not a caretaker, it would be hard to imagine the difficulty involved in the care process.

References

Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing, School of Public Health, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Department of Health Elderly Health Services (2005) Common Knowledge and Attitude towards Dementia Among the Hong Kong Public — Survey Results.

Wei, S-L. (2001) Effects of Interventions on Dementia-related Knowledge and Attitude of the General Population. Department of Nursing, Tzu-chi University, Taiwan.

Originally published at http://poeticmindfulness.wordpress.com on September 13, 2020.