Open access
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AS A FACTOR IN CHANGING THE QUALITY OF A MARRIAGE
Marta KORPOROWICZ1
Quality of Life – Various Levels and Dimensions
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1-2 (100-101) 2019, Publication date: 9 May 2019
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, matrimony, change
Abstract In this article, I would like to address the impact of Alzheimer's disease on the quality of marriage in the assessment of healthy spouses who become the primary carers of their partners in the face of the disease. Alzheimer's disease causes permanent and increasing brain damage which results in changes in behaviour, personality and cognitive changes. All these changes in the patient affect his or her overall perception by the spouse, change his or her attitude towards him or her and his or her marriage. Both studies found in the literature and the author's own research conducted among women whose husbands suffer from Alzheimer's disease are analysed. The article compares the quality of marriage assessments made by healthy spouses, i.e. those in marriages in which none of the spouses suffer from dementia, with the quality of marriage assessments made by spouses, one of whom suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The differences shown are intended to illustrate how Alzheimer's disease changes the quality of marriage felt by the partners of the ill person.
Zakład Psychologii Rozwoju Człowieka Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź
E-mail: marta.korporowicz@uni.lodz.pl