Introduction
As part of my new job role as an assistant psychologist I have been asked to produce different
pieces of work that look at health issues and how people deal with the health issues. This is the
last piece of work I will be producing as part of my assistant psychologist job role. This piece of
work is a report about a chronic or terminal illness that I am interested in and looking at the
psychology of coming to terms with the illness and the psychology behind managing the chronic
illness.
Alzheimer’s disease
I have chosen Alzheimer’s disease as my chronic illness as I know multiple people who have
suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and it is a disease that I am interested in learning more
about. This is due to the reason that every individual who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease
has a different experience as some people suffer symptoms that others do not, individual’s
mental health deteriorates as different rates and it affects any individual diagnosed in different
ways.
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia and is the most common type of dementia, it is an
incurable brain disorder that progressively gets worse overtime, Alzheimer's disease slowly
affects the memory and thinking skills of a person which can stop them from being able to
perform everyday tasks and living their everyday life. (NIH 2019) Alzheimer’s disease affects
everyone different with some people their mental health and thinking skills slowly deteriorates
over a long period of time and with other it could be fine and then rapidly deteriorate over a
very short time period or it could be in the middle.
Trends in prevalence
According to (Alzheimer’s Society 2020) by 2015 in the United Kingdom there will be 850,000
people suffering with dementia and it is said to increase every year. By 2021 it is reported 1
million people will suffer from dementia, by 2040 it is estimated up to 1.6 million individuals
will be diagnosed with dementia and by 2051 over 2 million people in United Kingdom it is said
will suffer from dementia. (Alzheimer’s Society 2020) claims that before the age of 65 over
40,000 people suffer from early-onset dementia in the United Kingdom. The reason for the
increase in the amount of people diagnosed with dementia in the United Kingdom is because of
the population getting older says (Alzheimer’s Society 2020)
(Global Voice on Dementia no date) reported that in 2015 there was an estimate that 46.8
million people in the world were suffering from dementia and by 2017 the number was
believed to have been close to 50 million. This number will double very 20 years claims (Global
Voice on Dementia no date) it is believed that the number of people living with dementia
worldwide will be around 75 million in 2030 and 131.5 million by 2050. It is believed that
countries with low and middle income will have more people suffering from dementia than high
income countries.
, Statistics
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most popular type of dementia it is believed between 50 to 75
percent of people who have dementia suffer from Alzheimer's disease. It is believed that every
three minutes in the United Kingdom that someone is diagnosed with dementia this adds up to
209,600 people in the United Kingdom diagnosed with dementia in one year. People over the
age of 80 years old have a 1 in 6 chance of having dementia and there are over 42,000 people
living with dementia who are under the age of 65. It is believed that around 70% of people who
are in nursing or residential homes suffer from dementia or other memory loss illnesses.
(Alzheimer’s Society 2020) 35% of people who have dementia in the United Kingdom are
reportedly men and out of that 35% of men 8.7% of them died as a result of dementia in 2017
making dementia the second biggest cause for death of men in 2017. On the other hand, 65%
of people dealing with dementia in the United Kingdom are women and out of the that 65% of
women 16.3% of them died from the dementia in 2017 which made dementia the biggest cause
of death for women that year. (Alzheimer’s Research UK 2018)
(Office for National Statistics
2016)
According to (WHO 2019) around 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia and
there are almost 10 million new cases in the world every year. Alzheimer’s Disease is the most
common type of dementia worldwide and makes up for in between 60 to 70 percent of the
dementia that people are struggling with. There is a percentage of people who are living with
dementia over the age over 60 is between 5 and 8 percent. (WHO 2019) 58% of people who are
dealing with dementia live in low- or middle-income countries and this is set to rise to 68% by
2050. There is apparently one new case of dementia every second worldwide. In higher income
countries between 20 and 50 percent of people are diagnosed with dementia however in lower
As part of my new job role as an assistant psychologist I have been asked to produce different
pieces of work that look at health issues and how people deal with the health issues. This is the
last piece of work I will be producing as part of my assistant psychologist job role. This piece of
work is a report about a chronic or terminal illness that I am interested in and looking at the
psychology of coming to terms with the illness and the psychology behind managing the chronic
illness.
Alzheimer’s disease
I have chosen Alzheimer’s disease as my chronic illness as I know multiple people who have
suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and it is a disease that I am interested in learning more
about. This is due to the reason that every individual who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease
has a different experience as some people suffer symptoms that others do not, individual’s
mental health deteriorates as different rates and it affects any individual diagnosed in different
ways.
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia and is the most common type of dementia, it is an
incurable brain disorder that progressively gets worse overtime, Alzheimer's disease slowly
affects the memory and thinking skills of a person which can stop them from being able to
perform everyday tasks and living their everyday life. (NIH 2019) Alzheimer’s disease affects
everyone different with some people their mental health and thinking skills slowly deteriorates
over a long period of time and with other it could be fine and then rapidly deteriorate over a
very short time period or it could be in the middle.
Trends in prevalence
According to (Alzheimer’s Society 2020) by 2015 in the United Kingdom there will be 850,000
people suffering with dementia and it is said to increase every year. By 2021 it is reported 1
million people will suffer from dementia, by 2040 it is estimated up to 1.6 million individuals
will be diagnosed with dementia and by 2051 over 2 million people in United Kingdom it is said
will suffer from dementia. (Alzheimer’s Society 2020) claims that before the age of 65 over
40,000 people suffer from early-onset dementia in the United Kingdom. The reason for the
increase in the amount of people diagnosed with dementia in the United Kingdom is because of
the population getting older says (Alzheimer’s Society 2020)
(Global Voice on Dementia no date) reported that in 2015 there was an estimate that 46.8
million people in the world were suffering from dementia and by 2017 the number was
believed to have been close to 50 million. This number will double very 20 years claims (Global
Voice on Dementia no date) it is believed that the number of people living with dementia
worldwide will be around 75 million in 2030 and 131.5 million by 2050. It is believed that
countries with low and middle income will have more people suffering from dementia than high
income countries.
, Statistics
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most popular type of dementia it is believed between 50 to 75
percent of people who have dementia suffer from Alzheimer's disease. It is believed that every
three minutes in the United Kingdom that someone is diagnosed with dementia this adds up to
209,600 people in the United Kingdom diagnosed with dementia in one year. People over the
age of 80 years old have a 1 in 6 chance of having dementia and there are over 42,000 people
living with dementia who are under the age of 65. It is believed that around 70% of people who
are in nursing or residential homes suffer from dementia or other memory loss illnesses.
(Alzheimer’s Society 2020) 35% of people who have dementia in the United Kingdom are
reportedly men and out of that 35% of men 8.7% of them died as a result of dementia in 2017
making dementia the second biggest cause for death of men in 2017. On the other hand, 65%
of people dealing with dementia in the United Kingdom are women and out of the that 65% of
women 16.3% of them died from the dementia in 2017 which made dementia the biggest cause
of death for women that year. (Alzheimer’s Research UK 2018)
(Office for National Statistics
2016)
According to (WHO 2019) around 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia and
there are almost 10 million new cases in the world every year. Alzheimer’s Disease is the most
common type of dementia worldwide and makes up for in between 60 to 70 percent of the
dementia that people are struggling with. There is a percentage of people who are living with
dementia over the age over 60 is between 5 and 8 percent. (WHO 2019) 58% of people who are
dealing with dementia live in low- or middle-income countries and this is set to rise to 68% by
2050. There is apparently one new case of dementia every second worldwide. In higher income
countries between 20 and 50 percent of people are diagnosed with dementia however in lower
