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- Focus: Students will be introduced to dementias caused by Alzheimer's disease, vascular problems, and alcohol. They will analyze the symptoms, characteristics, anatomies, onsets and preventions for these dementias.
Activities | Introduction | Objectives | Resources & Web Sites
Activities
Activity 6A: The Case of Willie
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(dementia, Alzheimer's disease, caregiving, geriatrician, stereotype, sensitivity, disorder, aging)
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| Activity 6B: Dementias |
(caregiving, alcohol induced dementia, compare, contrast, health promotion, disease prevention, CT scan, venn diagram, dementia, memory loss, plaque, neuron, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, tangle)
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| Activity 6C: Folstein Mini-Mental Status Examination |
(Folstein Mini Mental Status Examination, MMSE)
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| Entire Lesson Download |
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Introduction
Lesson 6, "Damaged Brains," introduces students to the concepts of risk factors and diseases that affect cognitive function. The first activity is a case illustration of a person afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. Students are asked to consider what this person's life is like and describe their personal appearance (self-neglect) and the appearance of their household. A central goal of this activity is to sensitize the students to what it is like to have a dementing disorder. The second activity teaches directly about the different types of dementias and specifically illustrates the preventable causes, e.g., alcohol-related dementia, vascular dementias (high blood pressure and stroke), and dementia due to brain injury. The last activity of the lesson introduces students to a screening technique for dementia. The Folstein Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) is a short 30-item questionnaire that many doctors use to screen for dementia. The test is not specific, that is, a low score does not tell you precisely that a person has dementia, but indicates that further testing may need to be done. In general, a score of less than 24 is indicative of dementia. Students should be aware that factors other than cognition may influence the MMSE score. For example, persons with lower education levels or visual impairments tend to score lower on the MMSE. Also, cultural differences and language preferences may affect scores on the tests. Students should discuss not only their scores, but problems they encountered in asking the Folstein MMSE to each other.
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Objectives
Students will be able to:
- explore their attitudes/stereotypes concerning people with dementias
- understand the concept of brain degeneration in Alzheimer's, vascular, and alcohol-induced dementias
- recognize symptoms, characteristics, and prevention of the dementing disorders
- compare and contrast the dementing disorders
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Resources & Web Sites
Alzheimer's Association - national voluntary organization dedicated to researching the prevention, cures, and treatments of Alzheimer's Disease. http://www.alz.org/
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