Investigating Problems Encountered by Elderly with Dementia: A Report

This report investigates the multifaceted problems encountered by elderly individuals suffering from dementia. It begins with a background introduction, defining dementia as a significant health issue affecting cognitive functions and behavior in older adults. The research aims to analyze these problems, focusing on understanding dementia's impact, causes, and the specific challenges faced by the elderly. The methodology employs a qualitative research approach, utilizing secondary data collection from journals and articles to gather comprehensive insights. The literature review covers the notion of dementia, its influence on older people, and the various causes, including Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The discussion synthesizes the findings, emphasizing the cognitive decline, personality changes, and social isolation that dementia often brings. Key findings highlight the chronic nature of dementia and its global prevalence, underscoring the need for early detection and preventative measures. The report concludes by reiterating the significance of the research, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations throughout the study, and providing a foundation for further research into improving the quality of life for those affected by dementia. The report also mentions the importance of early diagnosis and the need for support and care for affected individuals and their families.

RESEARCH METHODS
IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

Table of Contents
TITLE: What are the problems encountered by old people suffering from dementia?...................1
Background Introduction.................................................................................................................1
Aim and Objectives..........................................................................................................................1
Research aim...............................................................................................................................1
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................1
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................1
Rationale for the Research...............................................................................................................2
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................2
Notion of dementia in old age people.........................................................................................2
Dementia influence the older people...........................................................................................2
Causes behind the occurrence of dementia within the old age people........................................3
Methods and Methodologies............................................................................................................3
Research approach......................................................................................................................3
Type of investigation..................................................................................................................4
Data collection............................................................................................................................4
Ethical Issues...................................................................................................................................4
Discussion........................................................................................................................................5
Key Findings....................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

TITLE: What are the problems encountered by old people suffering from
dementia?
Background Introduction
Old age is known to be that age whereby an individual reaches to their life expectancy or
end phase of the human life cycle. With the passage of time, the people are inflicted with several
diseases such as obesity, dementia, Alzheimer's, and so forth (Qiu and Fratiglioni, 2018). Now,
dementia is acknowledged to be one of the most prominent health issues that are usually found
within the elderly people. It is a disorder circumscribing the mental process, induced by an
injury. The occurrence of this disease within an individual leads to behavioural changes,
personality alterations, impaired vision and memory related problems. The current study is
conducted upon dementia affecting the old people and causing several issues within them. In
order to gather in-depth information about the subject matter, aims and objectives are developed
and valid outcomes are reached at.
Aim and Objectives
Research aim
“To analyse the problems encountered by old people suffering from dementia.”
Research Objectives
The research objectives formulated for this study are as follows:-
 To gain knowledge about dementia in old age people.
 To determine the influence of dementia upon the older people.
 To acknowledged the causes behind the occurrence of dementia within the old age
people.
Research Questions
The research questions formulated for the current research are presented as follows: -
 What is the notion of dementia in old age people?
 How does dementia influence the older people?
 What are the causes behind the occurrence of dementia within the old age people?
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Rationale for the Research
The main reason behind carrying out this study is developing an understanding of the
problems which affect the older people as a result of being afflicted by dementia. This research
will also provide help in determining the causes which mainly lead to the occurrence of dementia
within the older people. In addition to this, conducting this research investigation will also allow
the investigator to enhance their existent set of skills, knowledge, competence and expertise in
the field of health and social care. In this relation, some of the core skills that the researcher will
be able to develop as a result of undergoing this study are determined as communication,
decision making, project management, analytical, time management and problem solving.
Literature Review
Notion of dementia in old age people
As per the views and opinion of Delwel, S., (2018), Dementia is defined as the
collaborative term used for describing the cognitive decline of a human. The main reason behind
the occurrence of this disease is the brain disorders as well as the underlying problems. Apart
from this, it can be stated that there are several symptoms of this disease like impairment in
relation to communication, memory issues and thinking problems. The likelihood of occurrence
of dementia is mostly seen within the older people. However, it cannot be denied that this disease
occurs in other age groups also. In this relation, it is determined that 47.5 million people are
affected by this disease on an annual basis across the globe (Oral hygiene and oral health in
older people with dementia: a comprehensive review with focus on oral soft tissues, 2018).
Further, it is acknowledged that a new case of dementia is observed in every 4 seconds.
Dementia influence the older people
According to the point of view of Hukins, D., Macleod, U. and Boland, J.W. (2019),
Dementia can be mainly said to be the degeneration of the human brain, resulting into occurrence
of changes within the old age people such as alterations within the thinking abilities, socialising
process, and memory related aspects. In this relation, it can be said that this disease not just
affects the personal life of an individual but also the family associations of that person. Dementia
instils a sense of negativity and inferiority within the affected old age person amidst the society
and leads to alienating them from their family members and peers. The disease also resulted into
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causing mental stress within the people, restraining them from carrying out the day to day
activities in an effective manner.
Causes behind the occurrence of dementia within the old age people
In accordance with the viewpoint of Shimada, H., Lee, S., Makizako, H., Chen, L.K. and
Arai, H. (2018), there are several causes behind the occurrence of dementia within the old age
individuals. The causes vary in accordance with the kinds of brain changes which may occur.
Alzheimer's disease is acknowledged to be the most common cause behind old age individuals
being affected by the disease named dementia. In addition to this, dementia can be mainly caused
by the death of the brain cell along with the neurodegenerative disease that occurs over the
course of time. Furthermore, it can be stated that HIV, traumatic brain injury Vascular cognitive
impairment, and so on, are some of the other prominent causes leading to dementia within the
old age people.
Methods and Methodologies
Research methodology is defined as a crucial section of a research report as this mainly
provide assistance to the researcher in collecting in-depth information about the topic of the
study. The usage and application of relevant as well as appropriate methods lead to the
attainment of valid and true research outcomes (Zhu, Sari and Lee, 2018). This assists in making
sure that the study is conducted in a manner which yields support to the researcher in finding
relevant information about the research problem.
Research approach
The research approach can be said to be a plan which is inclusive of the steps of broad
assumptions to in-depth methods used for collecting, analysing and interpreting the data. There
are mainly 2 types of research approaches named inductive approach and deductive approach
(Cypress, 2018). In relation to the present study, the investigator has made use of inductive
approach. The major reason behind the selection of this approach for conducting the study on the
subject of dementia is that it enables the researcher to evaluate the qualitative data in an effective
manner. This helps to present the collected data in a meaningful manner. This ultimately helps in
attaining valid research outcomes.
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Type of investigation
This section focuses toward presenting detail about the type of method adopted by the
investigator for conducting a particular investigation in effective manner. There are usually two
type of investigating methods that are used for performing the investigation such as qualitative
investigation and quantitative investigation. Among these two methods the qualitative
investigation method will be consider to perform this investigation which support in collecting
the more detailed information about eth current area of study by adopting theoretical framework.
The main reason behind selecting qualitative method is that it allows the researcher in
developing understanding regarding the type of concepts, cultural phenomenon as well as social
interaction which in turn provide appropriate outcome of study.
Data collection
Data collection can be defined as the process of gathering information on a subject matter
and consequently drawing conclusion in accordance with it. There are mainly two types of
methods which are put to use for the purpose of collecting the data. These are named primary
and secondary methods of data collection (Litosseliti, 2018). In the primary method, information
is first hand collected by the investigator on the research topic. Some of the most common
techniques used in primary data collection are questionnaire, survey, focus group, interview,
observation, etc. Contrarily, secondary method is concerned with the collection of information
on the basis of the already published data. Secondary data is mainly collected by way of gaining
access to the books, journals, magazines, online articles and so forth (Hennink, Hutter and
Bailey, 2020). In relation to the current research based on impact of dementia on older people,
the investigator has made use of secondary method of data collection. The researcher has only
used the current and authenticated papers to collect relevant and reliable data.
Ethical Issues
Research ethics is extremely important to be taken into consideration while carrying out
any study. In this relation, recent articles and journals have been used to make sure that true and
valid outcomes are reached to, as a result of collecting the information. The consideration of only
authenticated sources would ensure that true information is gathered upon the research topic. In
addition to this, the sources which cannot be accessed without permission will be accessed only
after gaining permission from the concerned authorities.
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Discussion
On the basis of the literature review conducted above, it can be comprehensively stated
that dementia is a chronic issue which affects all age groups, but is most commonly found in the
old age people. In this relation, the occurrence of this health issue within the people results into
causing personality changes within the people. Also, it has been assessed that the most common
outcome of dementia within the old people is loss of memory. Further, the respective health issue
causes a sense of inferiority and negativity within the individuals. This makes them separate
themselves from the society and alienate themselves from the wide group in a manner such that
they get lonely (Sen, Capelli and Husain, 2018). Also, they tend to separate themselves from the
other people because they consider themselves to be a burden on the society and mainly upon
their family members and companion. This mainly happens because dementia causes mental
stress within the affected individual, restraining them from being able to carry out the day to day
activities in the usual way. This makes them sad and undergoing a sense of loneliness. With the
passage of age, humans tend to face more difficulty because of this issue as compared to the
younger individuals when affected by this chronic health issue.
Key Findings
As per the discussion done above in the research proposal, it is found that dementia is a
chronic medical issue which causes cognitive decline within the humans who are affected by this
disease. In addition to this, it has further been determined that dementia can be detected in the
early phase if its symptoms are known and thereby the people displaying the same are made to
undergo medical observations to find out if they have dementia. This is a chronic health issue
which affects the ability of a person to think, speak and hear. This causes them to feel negativity
and inferiority within them. It ultimately leads to the individual having issues in executing their
daily tasks in a manner as required by them. Apart from this, it is also found out that dementia
affects 47.5 million people on an annual basis worldwide. This implies the seriousness of this
chronic health issue and makes it important for the people from a younger age to take measures
through which they can avoid being affected by dementia in old age.
Conclusion
From the overall analysis and discussion done above in the research report, it can be
stated that dementia is one of the most common health issues which affect the old age people in
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the state of their ageing. Besides this, it has been determined that the study has been conducted
by mainly taking into the use the secondary method of data collection. In addition to this, it has
been concluded that authentic and current sources of data have been used by the researcher to
reach to valid outcomes. Ethics has been mainly taken into consideration while conducting this
research study.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cypress, B., 2018. Qualitative research methods: A phenomenological focus. Dimensions of
Critical Care Nursing, 37(6), pp.302-309.
Delwel, S., Binnekade, T.T., Perez, R.S., Hertogh, C.M., Scherder, E.J. and Lobbezoo, F., 2018.
Oral hygiene and oral health in older people with dementia: a comprehensive review with
focus on oral soft tissues. Clinical oral investigations, 22(1), pp.93-108.
Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A., 2020. Qualitative research methods. SAGE Publications
Limited.
Hukins, D., Macleod, U. and Boland, J.W., 2019. Identifying potentially inappropriate
prescribing in older people with dementia: a systematic review. European journal of
clinical pharmacology, 75(4), pp.467-481.
Litosseliti, L. ed., 2018. Research methods in linguistics. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Qiu, C. and Fratiglioni, L., 2018. Aging without dementia is achievable: current evidence from
epidemiological research. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 62(3), pp.933-942.
Sen, A., Capelli, V. and Husain, M., 2018. Cognition and dementia in older patients with
epilepsy. Brain, 141(6), pp.1592-1608.
Shimada, H., Lee, S., Makizako, H., Chen, L.K. and Arai, H., 2018. Cognitive frailty predicts
incident dementia among community-dwelling older people. Journal of clinical
medicine, 7(9), p.250.
Zhu, M., Sari, A. and Lee, M.M., 2018. A systematic review of research methods and topics of
the empirical MOOC literature (2014–2016). The Internet and Higher Education, 37,
pp.31-39.
ONLINE
Oral hygiene and oral health in older people with dementia: a comprehensive review with focus
on oral soft tissues, 2018. [Online] Available through: <
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5748411/>.
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