Impact of Functional Decline on Activities of Daily Living in Older Adults- An Examination of Chronic Disease and Its Effects
Loss of function can be described as the loss of an individual’s physical and mental abilities. This condition is very common, especially among the elderly, and is often termed as age-related functional decline. Loss of function often begins a downward spiral in the life of the affected individual and greatly affects both the person’s independence and quality of life (Verkhratsky et al., 2020). Some of the commonest causes of functional decline include macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma, resulting in visual problems. Hearing complications are also common as a result of hearing loss and tinnitus. Other causes of loss of function in the elderly include problems with balance, memory loss, and weakness resulting from conditions such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. This essay highlights how a specific loss of function affects one or more activities of daily living among the elderly.
Loss of function.
Cognitive impairment and forgetfulness are some of the most common presentations observed in the elderly. Forgetfulness is often termed as a normal part of aging. Changes in the brain as a result of aging are often the major cause of forgetfulness. Common causes of age-related memory loss include Alzheimer’s or other dementia, depression, thyroid complications, dehydration, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use, among others (Halahakoon et al., 2019). Changes in the brain often associated with aging result in people finding it harder to learn new things, difficulty remembering information as well as they did previously, and often misplacing items such as glasses and keys.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that often commences as mild memory loss and later progresses to loss of ability to maintain conversations or respond appropriately to the environment. The disease is the most common form of dementia, with an estimated 5.8 million people living with the condition in the United States in the year 2020 (Matthews et al., 2018). The condition mostly affects the elderly, especially those above the age of sixty-five, with the condition being less common in younger individuals.
Alzheimer’s disease is not yet fully understood by scientists. The commonest risk factors associated with the condition include age, which is the best-known risk factor for the condition. Other risk factors include a familial history of the illness, with researchers believing that genetics greatly contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Adoption of a healthy lifestyle greatly reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease despite genetic predisposition. Research is currently underway to determine whether diet and the general environment of the individual are vital in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is not a component of the normal aging process. Alzheimer’s disease differs from normal aging in various aspects. With normal aging presenting with making of poor decisions once in a while, Alzheimer’s disease results in poor judgment and decision-making the majority of the time. People with Alzheimer’s disease often have trouble maintaining a conversation. This is different from the normal aging process, where one might sometimes forget the appropriate words to use (Toepper, 2017). Misplacing items once in a while is a common feature of aging. In Alzheimer’s disease, people often misplace key items such as keys and glasses and often have difficulty or are unable to locate them. Cognitive impairment and forgetfulness are some of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease. This memory loss greatly leads to loss of function and greatly affects the ability of the individual to carry out day-to-day tasks as they did previously.
Activities of daily living (ADL) can be defined as tasks that need to be accomplished on a regular basis so as to facilitate functioning. Activities of daily living include bathing, general grooming and hygiene, eating, and using the toilet. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia greatly impact an individual’s life and make the performance of activities of daily living quite difficult. Assessment of an individual’s cognitive functioning gives insight into the overall ability of an individual to perform the activities of daily living. Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, a person’s ability to perform activities of daily living declines gradually over time.
Cognitive impairment greatly affects the executive functioning of an individual. Memory loss may make it difficult for individuals to correctly make their hair, clean themselves, or get dressed appropriately. It is common to come across individuals putting on clothes inside out or in the wrong order. People with this condition often find it difficult to sequence, plan and organize a multiple-step activity (Bertrand et al., 2019). This condition greatly affects the personal grooming of an individual and may result in social isolation due to embarrassment and ridicule from people unaware of the condition.
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia also commonly present with memory loss (Higham et al., 2019). People with these conditions often forget to do day-to-day tasks or forget how to perform the tasks altogether. Individuals may forget to pay their bills, leading to disconnections that greatly affect them. People may also forget where they placed key items such as keys and glasses. These greatly result in inconveniences. Forgetfulness may also pose a danger to the affected individual. One may forget to switch off the stove after use, greatly increasing the risk of fire outbreaks that may be hazardous to both them and others living close to them.
The cognitive impairment of an individual suffering from Alzheimer’s disease also greatly affects their judgment. An individual may fail to see the need to bring along a heavy jacket while going out in the middle of winter. An individual may also decide to continue driving despite the fact that the traffic lights have turned red. Such actions present a danger to the individual. Reckless driving not only poses a danger to the individual only but also places other road users at great risk.
Cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease also greatly affects an individual’s attention. Attention is key in positioning oneself towards a certain stimulus and responding appropriately. Attention is key during activities such as driving. Attention ensures that one’s focus is on the road for long durations of time without getting distracted. Attention is key in switching from one lane to another while also proving pivotal in tasks related to driving, such as using the pedals and switching gears. A deficit in an individual’s attention means that he cannot undertake daily tasks such as driving to the store or any other place as he poses a great danger to other road users. Impaired attention is critical in other tasks as well. Loss of attention during simple everyday tasks may result in great inconveniences. One may find himself using a fork to consume soup instead of a spoon as a result of impaired attention. This leads to frustration and inconvenience.
Cognitive impairment will often result in incontinence. Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia often present with difficulty restraining their bowel movements and urination. This lack of bowel and urine control greatly affects the person’s social life. The individual is embarrassed to go out and interact with others due to the shame associated with such an episode. The inability to control both defecation and urination means that the individual requires help from those around him. His or her daily intake of both fluids and food, especially at night, is restricted to minimize the risk of defecating or urinating on oneself. The inability to restrain bowel movements also greatly limits the person’s ability to travel even over short distances. The movement even to seek essential services such as moving to the local grocery store may be deemed almost impossible. Individuals may also find it difficult to properly use the sanitation facilities, which further results in inconveniences, especially for those tasked with the responsibility of looking after these patients.
Visual-spatial changes are a common occurrence associated with cognitive impairment commonly observed in Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia (Jones et al., 2017). These changes make it very difficult for individuals to perform activities of daily living. Visual-spatial changes make it difficult for one to identify which container in the bathroom is the toilet seat. These changes may also make it difficult to locate the toothbrush on the bathroom counter. Such changes result in frustration and make activities such as brushing and using the toilet quite difficult. Inconveniences are also observed when individuals use the wrong container, thinking that it is the toilet. Such scenarios greatly affect normal daily activities and make life quite uncomfortable, even for caregivers.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia greatly impact the individual’s behavior and personality in general. People suffering from such conditions may resist help from caregivers in carrying out daily activities. This further complicates their situation. Patients will often become fearful, restless and angry every time someone wants to assist them with daily tasks as they view it as meddling. Patients will often refuse assistance in activities such as bathing, grooming, or brushing their teeth. This often means that the majority of these individuals appear untidy and disorganized. They often appear with their hair halfway combed, clothes worn inside out or unbuttoned, or often dirty due to failure to take showers. Any assistance is often met with hostility as a result of the cognitive impairment associated with such conditions.
Conclusion.
Loss of function is a common trend, especially among the elderly. It is, therefore, often referred to as age-related functional decline. Loss of function greatly impacts an individual’s sense of independence and overall quality of life. Several conditions, such as aging or chronic illnesses, have often been associated with a loss of function. Loss of function normally manifests as hearing loss, general body weakness, and memory loss, among other manifestations. Loss of function greatly undermines an individual’s activities of daily living. These are day-to-day tasks that are vital for the normal functioning and survival of the individual. Activities such as bathing, feeding, general grooming, and using the toilet are greatly affected by the loss of function. Alzheimer’s disease, often resulting in cognitive impairment, greatly affects an individual’s judgment, memory, and attention. This impairment greatly hinders the individual’s ability to perform vital day-to-day tasks.
References.
Bertrand, J. M., Mazancieux, A., Moulin, C. J. A., Béjot, Y., Rouaud, O., & Souchay, C. (2019). In the here and now: Short-term memory predictions are preserved in Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex, 119, 158–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2019.03.027
Halahakoon, D. C., Lewis, G., & Roiser, J. P. (2019). Cognitive impairment and depression—cause, consequence, or coincidence? JAMA Psychiatry, 76(3), 239. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.3631
Higham, J. P., Malik, B. R., Buhl, E., Dawson, J. M., Ogier, A. S., Lunnon, K., & Hodge, J. J. (2019). Alzheimer’s disease associated genes ankyrin and tau cause shortened lifespan and memory loss in drosophila. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2019.00260
Jones, D. T., Graff-Radford, J., Lowe, V. J., Wiste, H. J., Gunter, J. L., Senjem, M. L., Botha, H., Kantarci, K., Boeve, B. F., Knopman, D. S., Petersen, R. C., & Jack, C. R. (2017). Tau, amyloid, and cascading network failure across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum. Cortex, 97, 143–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.09.018
Matthews, K. A., Xu, W., Gaglioti, A. H., Holt, J. B., Croft, J. B., Mack, D., & McGuire, L. C. (2018). Racial and ethnic estimates of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the United States (2015–2060) in adults aged ≥65 years. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 15(1), 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2018.06.3063
Toepper, M. (2017). Dissociating Normal aging from Alzheimer’s disease: A view from cognitive neuroscience. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 57(2), 331–352. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-161099
Verkhratsky, A., Augusto-Oliveira, M., Pivoriūnas, A., Popov, A., Brazhe, A., & Semyanov, A. (2020). Astroglial asthenia and loss of function, rather than reactivity, contribute to the aging of the brain. Pflügers Archiv – European Journal of Physiology, 473(5), 753–774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-020-02465-3
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Question 
Often, a loss of function begins a downward spiral in an elderly person’s life, affecting his or her independence and quality of life.”
Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word APA-formatted paper addressing the above statement’s significance and validity. A loss of function secondary to chronic disease, conditions, or illness can characterize aging. Include how a specific loss of function and the cause might affect one or more Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) of an older adult. Class, focus on a specific loss of function and clearly explain in your Assignment how that loss trickles down to affect ADLS and how those ADLS are affected.
Impact of Functional Decline on Activities of Daily Living in Older Adults- An Examination of Chronic Disease and Its Effects
Use a minimum of three Peer Reviewed References to support your paper.
Use a minimum of 3 academic references to support your response.
Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.
It must stay within the required word count, no more, no less.