Professor and class,

Dementia is something I am currently facing within my own family, so I have chosen the senior with dementia case study. This case is about a recently diagnosed 72 year old male, Mr. Johnson who is living with his wife and shows signs of deterioration reported by the LPN. Some key pieces of information in Mr. Johnson’s case is his wife already thinking about nursing homes, both her adult kids are living out of state and there’s no family close by to help spread the care responsibilities. It is going to take the work of the LPN, social worker, dietician, and FNP to ensure Mr. Johnson and his wife are supported.

The “case of Alzheimers Disease and other dementias is expected to increase” (Nies, & McEwen, 2019, p.378) as health care and technology are enabling us to live longer. There are many risk factors that can impact the health outcomes of those suffering from dementia. Family members and Caregivers can be physically drained and emotionally stressed overtime as the disease progresses and needs increase. A major risk factor is the family’s cultural view of dementia or even an lack of acknowledging it to be something that can be managed. An article by Schub and Woten stresses the importance of formal and informal education for caregivers. (“Patients with Dementia: Support for Caregivers”, 2018) Lacking knowledge of the variety of resources and services available to those caring for the cognitive impaired would increase the chances of an adverse event that could be avoided. A hurdle further down the line if the wife continues home health services is being able to trust the help from an other members of the care team.

An agency of interest would be Sunrise of Lincoln Park on the north side of Chicago, IL. The facility is near several medical facilities. It has enough space for 60 residents making availability quite limited, but allows for staff to focus more in individuals. The resident can choose from a studio designed for one person or a 1-2 bedroom set up that can accommodate a couple. They have nurses staff in the day and trained staff available 24hrs a day with an on-call nurse and doctor. They offer social and educational events for family, and transportation for residents. They provide long term care and small group activities for residents experiencing early signs of memory loss that would be a good fit for Mr. Johnson.

Sunrise of Lincoln park is a female residents only, but will accept males. There is a minimum age accepted, but is not listed on their website. This facility’s acceptance of a patient would be more complicated if a spouse is unwilling to be separated.

Monthly cost to the individual would be between $3,000-$3,847 to live with a room-mate, $4,100-$5,244 to live alone in a studio, $4,900-$6,242 for a 1 bedroom, and $5,200 for a 2 bedroom. So a couple could expect to pay a minimum of $5,200 or the actual consumer reported average of $7,203. Sunrise would not be affordable unless you qualified for an IRS tax deduction or able to receive veteran’s benefits.

All these factors combined would make a facility like Sunrise of Lincoln Park inaccessible to most. They are a known agency with 13 locations in Illinois, so there are plenty of options if the 60 resident occupancy is not an option. It appears that staff are friendly and attentive to the needs of their residents and family members have expressed their satisfaction with the offerings that the Lincoln Park site has provided.

References:

Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2019). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.

Schub, T. B., & Woten, M. R. B. (2018). Patients with Dementia: Support for Caregivers. CINAHL Nursing Guide. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.chamberlainuniversity…

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