The Comparison of Collaborative Care for a Patient with Alzheimer

The comparison of collaborative care for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease and Diabetes
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Introduction
Studies reveal that patients suffering from mental health disorders such as Alzheimer’s and those with acute medical disorders like diabetes require a structured psychotherapy as the most preferred mode of treatment. However, quite a number of such patients cannot access the therapies or even benefits and therefore a Collaborative Care Program (CCP) is developed for them (Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006). The origin of Collaborative Care traced back in the somatic health care for the sole purpose of increasing shared decision making as well as enhancing skills related to self-management for patients in acute caring setting. Medical practitioners and particularly nurses play important roles in the collaborative care, such as ensuring optimal continuity or coordination of care (Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006). CCP is majorly geared towards improving the self-management skills, life quality as well as reducing other manifestations and destructive behavior of both mental health disorder and other medical disorders. This review is a comparative multiple case study on the processes and outcomes of collaborative care for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and diabetes diseases which is a mental health disorder and a medical disorder respectively.
Medical and Mental health disorder: Alzheimer’s and Diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the brain and diabetes on the other hand is a condition in which the body fails to effectively produce and utilize insulin. The two conditions are complex and widespread health conditions that call for a collaborative care program (Giesen-Bloo, et al., 2006). It is interesting to note that both Alzheimer’s and diabetes are somehow related. According to scientific research, diabetes more so in the midlife has been associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease later in life. For instance, blood glucose levels of middle aged individuals when tested at their old age, studies reveal that the patients who once experienced insulin problems have higher chances of developing Alzheimer’s, about 1.5 times as opposed to those who never had any insulin related problems. This happens irrespective of considering factors, like cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body mass index and even their levels of education. The association between Alzheimer’s disease and diabetic patients is strongest, particularly to those individuals lacking the ApoE 4 gene variant (Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006). The latter has been largely associated with higher risks of Alzheimer’s disease.
In other related instances, researchers have found that keeping blood sugar levels under check has the possibility of lessening the normal age-related cognitive decline in patients with or without diabetes. The theory behind this assumption is that the levels of blood glucose tend to affect the hippocampus, which is a section of the brain that is associated with motor skills, emotion as well as memory (Giesen-Bloo, et al., 2006). In as much as t...