Alzheimer's Disease and Marriage

The marriages of patients with Alzheimer's disease are examined in this book, which relates research findings to specific assessments and interventions that nurses can employ to help the caregiver.

The author carefully documents how Alzheimer's disease invades various dimensions of marriage and how spouses retain or lose awareness of each other. The dimensions of marriage that are explored include household tasks, companionship, affection and sexuality. For each dimension, clinical assessment strategies and guidelines for interventions are described.

What impact does Alzheimer's disease have on the marital relationship? What can a helping professional do to help the caregiving spouse? Carefully and thoughtfully documented, Alzheimer's Disease and Marriage peers deeply into caregiving research and personal data on individual relationships to uncover the profound effects of Alzheimer's disease on marriage. To date, existing research only dimly illuminates patterns of impact, response, and influence of this affliction on marriage; Alzheimer's Disease and Marriage now fills the void. The distinguished author presents her findings from the perspective of both the caregiver and the Alzheimer's disease afflicted spouse that results in a highly practical tool professionals can use for optimal intervention and assessment. The author shows how Alzheimer's disease invades various dimensions of marriage and how spouses retain or lose awareness of each other. Among the marital dimensions explored are day-to-day aspects of a relationship such as household tasks, tension, companionship, affection and sexuality, and commitment. For each of these dimensions, clinical assessment strategies and guidelines for interventions are described. Details on how to approach and interact with an afflicted spouse are also provided. Nurses in advanced practice, researchers, practitioners, and advanced students of gerontology, psychology, and social work will find Alzheimer's Disease and Marriage invaluable in bringing Alzheimer's disease and its impact more sharply into focus. "Lore K. Wright's monograph, building carefully on past research, breaks new ground as it explores the reality of marital relationships lived within the shadow of Alzheimer'sdisease. . . . Practical strategies are outlined in great detail, from the kinds of questions to ask during client visits to the kinds of support necessary and available for caregivers. It is Wright's ability to take the research findings and translate them into practice which provides the major contribution of this work."