Economic And Social Impact Of Alzheimer's Research Paper

3.3 Economic and social impact of Alzheimer’s disease When talking about Alzheimer's, it is common to focus solely on the cognitive and functional challenges associated with the disease; however, its impact is far-reaching. Emerging as one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, Alzheimer's is increasingly drawing attention to its profound social and economic ramifications. Discussion of Alzheimer's disease therefore necessitates a holistic view, encompassing the significant socio-economic implications it imposes on society. Alzheimer's not only substantially escalates healthcare expenses, but also profoundly impacts the quality of life (QoL) for both those afflicted and their caregivers. With population aging and other demographic shifts,

Furthermore, it's important to consider the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by caregivers. The total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia is estimated at almost $400,000 in 2023 dollars. Seventy percent of this lifetime cost of care is borne by family caregivers in the form of unpaid caregiving and out-of-pocket expenses for items ranging from medications to food for the person with dementia [Alzheimer’s Association, 2024]. However, the burden associated with AD is not only financial for the caregiver, to the extent that a term defines this discomfort condition of the caregiver: the caregiver burden. The term can be defined as the strain or load borne by a person who cares for a chronically ill, disabled, or elderly family member (Stucki & Mulvey, 2000). Further developed by Hiseman & Fackrell (2017), in relation to Parkinson’s disease, the caregiver burden is a multidimensional response to physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial stressors associated with the caregiving

A meta-analysis reported that caregivers of people with dementia were significantly more likely to experience depression and anxiety than non-caregivers, meaning that caring for a relative with AD significantly increases the risk of mental health difficulties, difficulties which are more pronounced for female caregivers (Ma, Dorstyn, 2018). The progressive decline in patients’ cognition, function, behavioural and psychiatric symptoms, and the tremendous stress faced by the caregivers are often predictive of institutional placement (Zhu, 2006). As the disease progresses, it carries with it a tremendous increase in burden on the caregiver who does the caregiving (Ampalam et al., 2012) meaning that caregiver burden rises with disease severity. Many studies documented the conflicts between women’s labor force participation and informal caregiving and showed that caregivers who were employed were more likely to withdraw from the labor market, be late or absent more often, take unpaid leave, or reduce their hours of work because of their caregiving responsibilities (Ettner