Ethical and Legal Implications of Working with Alzheimers Disease Free Essay Example, 1500 words

As noted by the World Health Organization, dementia is a mental condition characterized by deterioration in behavior, memory, performance, and thinking when undertaking daily activities. These occurrences are termed abnormal because they do not characterize normal aging processes. Today, there are 36 million people suffering from dementia and the numbers are rising since 7.7 million cases are reported annually throughout the world (Murray, 2012). Therefore, individuals are at a risk of developing these mental complications in old age. According to the World Health Organization, increased cases of dementia are explained by interplay with Alzheimer s disease. According to Murray (2012), Alzheimer s disease is the primary cause of Dementia with unimaginable economic costs to the country and the world. Dementia is responsible for dependency and disability among elderly adults, and its influences on family, caregivers, and the community may have physical, social, psychological and econom ic origins. In 2010, the World Health Organization argued the social costs of dementia reached 604 million dollars, which corresponded to 1% of the global Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, as a proportion, the total cost varied from 1.24% in developed countries to 0.24% in developing countries. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical and Legal Implications of Working with Alzheimers Disease or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page An apparent legal challenge that Catherine s family faces is neglect (Alzheimer s Association, 2013). This occurs when the family members and relatives of a mental patient fail to provide the necessities of life.