The role of nursing in a day center for patients with Alzheimer

Abstract

Introduction: This article addresses the complex composition of the diagnosis of probable dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease, as well as the course of action necessary to access the subjects. Objective: to analyze the trajectory of the disease and/or care through re-reading reference materials for the pathology, considering the trajectory of the disease and care. Methodology: The literature review focused on the phenomenon of dementia and the care of elderly patients with Alzheimer's, their caregivers, and family members. The research supports the writing that was carried out through observations and experiences with the elderly and families who attend the institution Day Center for the Elderly (DCE). This institution receives elderly people with this diagnosis and offers day care through an individual plan related to personal care, medications, food, and therapeutic and memory activities aimed at elderly patients with Alzheimer's. Results and discussion: Next, the care itineraries adopted by the families with the mediation of the CDI, inserted in a broad and unequal context to gender in Brazil, were analyzed. From there, we start with the descriptions and interpretations of the so-called "perceptual dilemmas", faced by those with dementia, both in terms of memory and reasoning disorientations and in terms of everyday skills with their own body. Conclusion: After defining the particularities of subjects with dementia, an analysis of the inter-subjective relationships of care has been proposed, perpetrated in the constant exercise of the caregiver in establishing perceptual alterities to understand the demands of the other to meet them.