Hello all! At this point in the semester, I've volunteered at Best Friends several times, and have completed a research-based argumentative paper on the topic of advance directives as they relate to individuals suffering from Alzheimer's. I'm slowly beginning to understand more about the disease, and I'm starting to experience the reality of the deterioration from my time at the day center.
In my research, which consisted of medical journals, the Alzheimer's Association, and other medical articles and foundations, I discovered that there is a strong relationship between having less aggressive care and having a directive in place. Not only this, but they also help to honor the desires of the patients, and prevent unnecessary stress caused by decision making for treatment. Unfortunately, too few Americans have actually established an advance directive for the number of individuals in the U.S. currently suffering from Alzheimer's: 5.3 million, according to the latest figures from the Alzheimer's Association. The image at right is an infographic I created using pieces of my research to help convey some of the foundations of what advance directives are and how they work.
I am very curious to know if the individuals at the Best Friends day center have directives in place, and what they look like, but I am unfortunately not capable of having access to this information, so the best I can do is to observe the level of care and respect administered to the guests.
Though I do not have access to medical files or much background on the guests I work with, I've begun to experience the effects of their individual progressions of the disease. At my last visit, I was engaging in conversation with a male guest and a female guest, and within the span of about 20 minutes, the female asked the male the same exact question (with absolute sincerity) 7 times. For some reason, her memory was resetting faster than usual that day, and she was unaware that she'd already had the same conversation with the man already. It was so heartbreaking to me, but so eye-opening as well. Memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer's are such difficult concepts to wrap your mind around until you've observed the effects. I am so humbled to be around individuals who, even though they suffer from the disease, are still joyful and unique and interested in the world around them. I thoroughly enjoy the time I'm spending volunteering at Best Friends, and I can't wait to continue observing and learning from the guests.
Until next time,
Katelyn
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