Impact of Life-Threatening Diseases on Individuals and Social Groups

The assignment delves into the consequences of ill health and life-threatening diseases on individuals and their social circles. It discusses the impact of bereavement, Alzheimer's, and other significant life events on personal and professional lives. The document also highlights the importance of social support in helping individuals cope with these challenges.

SUPPORTING
SIGNIFICANT LIFE
EVENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Explain the impact of significant life events on individuals.................................................3
1.2 Analyse possible group responses to significant life events that occur to one of its
members......................................................................................................................................4
1.3 Analyse the impact for others in health and social care when an individual experiences
significant life events..................................................................................................................4
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................5
(Covered in PPT).........................................................................................................................5
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................5
(Covered in Video Presentation).................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
.........................................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Events related to healthcare impacts significantly in life of an individual as it effects the
regular routine in everyday life. It involves various kinds of health issues including mental
disorders which may critical and impacts on personal, professional and social interaction of a
person (Madge and et. al., 2011). This report is based on a case study of Jacqui who is a mosaic
artist suffering from mental disease like Alzheimer's which is caused due to dementia and
bereavement. Thus, this report will discuss group responses to such life events of an individual
along with impact of these issues on others in health and social care. Along with this, certain
policies and procedures of companies related to supporting the person suffering from these
respective issues will also be studied. Also, various methods of group supporting to the
individual are also discussed along with suitability of external sources of support.
Case Study:
This assignment is based on Jacqui who is a mosaic artist. The patient is suffering from
dementia and bereavement. Jacqui was facing issues in getting adequate sleep. Due to this,
Jacqui lose the sense of reality and was unable to realise what is important. This affected her
personal and professional life. She also passed out once on the site while working. Eventually,
Jacqui started losing her hair with time. This is when her doctor suggested that Jacqui had
Alzheimer's disease. Due to this, she started forgetting basic things such as eating food, getting
dressed and was unable to look after her teenage daughter. This is when Jacqui moved to her
parents’ house.
TASK 1
1.1 Explain the impact of significant life events on individuals.
Alzheimer's is a disease where patient faces memory loss including other symptoms such
as disorientation, loss of motivation, bereavement, etc. (Wrzus and et. al., 2013). In the given
scenario, Jacqui is facing this issue due to which is has affected her personal life, social life and
professional life.
In her personal life, she has lost the sense of realization which is affecting her confidence.
Addition to this, Jacqui is not able to perform basic task of her daily routine due to her weakened
memory. This is affecting her personal life in a negative manner. As she has a teenage daughter
who is completely dependent on her. Jacqui is not able to take care of her daughter as well. This

has impacted her family life very badly. Due to this, she became dependent on her family to take
care of her.
Similarly, her professional life also got disturbed. She passed out on her building site due
to the side affects of the disease. She started having bouts of insomnia due to which she was
always low on energy. Due to lesser sleeping, there were certain health issues that were causing
such as headache, fatigue, mood swings. This affected her behavior and working abilities. Jacqui
could not set priority of what was important. Due to this, her boss thought that she is taking
drugs. This affected her career growth and her reputation in her work place.
Apart from this, social life of Jacqui was also not good. Due to issue of bereavement, she
started ignoring getting social with her friends. Because of this, she started living alone and
distant herself from the friend group. This affected her social life in a very negative way.
1.2 Analyse possible group responses to significant life events that occur to one of its members.
The group response towards a disease of its member depends on various factors. If the
group members are unaware of the health issues of the patient, they might not react positively
(Hutchison, 2018). For instance, in the case study of Jacqui, her coworkers did not reacted
positively towards her illness due to lack of knowledge about her health concerns. Boss of
Jacqui stated that she is doing drugs which shows the level of ignorance towards one's changed
behavior.
However, if the coworker knew about the health issues of Jacqui, they might have
treated her more appropriately. The coworker would have helped in her job roles to assist her
task. Similarly, the manager or boss of the company would have shown a leniency by allocating
easy task for Jacqui. Also, various paid leaves would have also been provided which would help
in managing the job and health at the same time.
These were some of the positive approaches that might have taken in consideration by
group of Jacqui that would have helped her to manage her health and career at the same time.
1.3 Analyse the impact for others in health and social care when an individual experiences
significant life events.
When an individual suffers from such life threatening diseases, every person that is
involved in their life gets affected (Seery, 2011). When Jacqui was diagnosed with Alzheimer's,
her decision making and sense of orientation got affected. Due to this, she was unable to perform
at her work place. This affected her professional life due to which the company suffered in

productivity and man power. Similarly, other members that were dependent on her such as her
daughter also got highly impacted by her disease. Due to Alzheimer's, Jacqui was not able to
perform basic task such as eating, getting dressed, etc. This created a big concern for her family
members.
When Jacqui moved in with her parents, the burden of managing her disease came
directly on her parents. This shows that disease of Jacqui affected all the members that were
connected got negatively influenced.
TASK 2
(Covered in PPT)
TASK 3
(Covered in Video Presentation)
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be analysed that ill health and life threatening diseases
such as bereavement, Alzheimer's have the power to affect life of an individual. Thus, it is
important to understand the impact on the individuals life and social group responses. Also, these
issues impact life of other individuals that are known to the patient such as family, co workers,
friends, etc. Along with this, it can also be examined that social circle can support these
individuals to help them recover faster and manage their life. There are various policies and
procedures which are framed to help the individuals that are suffering from significant life
events. Thus, various recommendation are given in order to enhance the support provided by the
organizations from healthcare industry.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Madge, N. and et. al., 2011. Psychological characteristics, stressful life events and deliberate
self-harm: findings from the Child & Adolescent Self-harm in Europe (CASE) Study.
European child & adolescent psychiatry. 20(10). p.499.
Wrzus, C. and et. al., 2013. Social network changes and life events across the life span: a meta-
analysis. Psychological bulletin. 139(1). p.53.
Hutchison, E.D., 2018. Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course. Sage
Publications.
Seery, M. D., 2011. Resilience: A silver lining to experiencing adverse life events?. Current
Directions in Psychological Science. 20(6). pp.390-394.
Friedman and et. al., 2011. Classification of trauma and stressor‐related disorders in DSM‐5.
Depression and anxiety. 28(9). pp.737-749.
Shear, M. K. and et. al., 2011. Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM‐5.
Depression and anxiety. 28(2). pp.103-117.
Littlewood, J., 2014. Aspects of Grief (Psychology Revivals): Bereavement in Adult Life.
Routledge.
Staniute, M., Brozaitiene, J. and Bunevicius, R., 2013. Effects of social support and stressful life
events on health-related quality of life in coronary artery disease patients. Journal of
Cardiovascular Nursing. 28(1). pp.83-89.
Online
Understanding dementi, 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.dementiauk.org/understanding-dementia/>.