Thursday, September 26, 2002: 4:30 PM-6:00 PM | |||
Caregiving in Neurological Disease: Lifespan and Chronic Illness Perpectives | |||
| THEME: A chronic disease is a physical or mental illness that requires more than six months of monitoring / management to control symptoms and / or shape the course of the illness. Chronic illnesses afflict persons of all ages, genders, socioeconomic and ethnic groups and by the year 2030, over 150 million Americans are projected to have chronic illnesses that will require long-term assistance to work / live independently in the community. Family caregivers provide over 70% of community-based care for persons with chronic illnesses. These informal caregivers are expected to accurately monitor and interpret symptoms, make sound decisions in illness situations with high levels of acuity and uncertainty, manage complex medical regimens, find and utilize health care service resources appropriately, deliver hands-on care in the home and provide affective support and encouragement to the ill family member -- all while maintaining their own health and well-being. Neurological diseases are particularly challenging for family caregivers in that they often combine cognitive, affective and physical care problems. PURPOSE: This symposium combines illness trajectory characteristics (acute-gradual onset, stable-progressive course, normal-shortened lifespan) with lifespan issues on caregiving in chronic neurological illness for young, middle and older adults. Studies of family caregiving in spinal cord injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are used to illustrate the interactions among these perspectives. Conceptual and methodological issues in caregiving research also are presented. | |||
| Organizer: | Barbara Habermann, RN, PhD, assistant professor | ||
| Self-Identified Assistance Needs of Family Caregivers of Elders Linda Lindsey Davis, RN, PhD, professor, Barbara Habermann, RN, PhD, assistant professor | |||
| Interventions To Assist Family Caregivers of Stroke Survivors Joan S. Grant, RN, DSN, professor | |||
| Concomitants of Depression among Family Caregivers of Persons with Recent-Onset Spinal Cord Injury Timothy R. Elliot, PhD, associate professor Rehabilitation Medicine | |||
| Mixed Method Studies of Caregiving in Chronic Neurological Illness Barbara Habermann, RN, PhD, assistant professor | |||
The Advancing Nursing Practice Excellence: State of the Science