Good Essay About Factors Impacting Spouse Of A Chronically Ill Patient

According to the literature reviewed, the factor that has the highest impact on the spouses of patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) aside from caring for their slowly disabling husbands is the fact that most of these spouses do not know a lot of details about the disease, its progression, or how it even occurs. In the study, the hypothesized factors pertaining to the spouses of MS patients were divided into four namely: caregiver roles, need for information, relationship changes, and barriers . Among these four themes and or factors, caregiver roles would seem to be the most significant because as time passes, MS patients’ condition and functionality often deteriorate until they reach a point where they are already totally dependent, often on their spouses when it comes to doing their ADLs. This factor would most likely be closely followed by knowledge about the disease. If the spouse and the patient have opposing goals, then their efforts would most likely be wasted; in the end, the husband would not be able to get the care or treatment that he desires or needs from his spouse because they have different goals. In that case, the quality of life of the patient may be negatively affected.
The one thing I saw that stands out on persons with chronic illnesses is their concept of hope. Most patients of chronic illnesses tend to have high hopes that they will be able to recover and even go back to their previous level of function soon. That high level of hope often gets preceded by low levels of hope and even depression especially for patients who later on realize that their conditions are permanent and even progressing as in the case of MS. This is, in fact, congruent with what the literatures suggest as evidenced by the rather common practice of encouraging patients with chronic illnesses to join forums or groups of people who are in the same situation as them, to cope with the stress and pressure of being put in their situation.

References

Courts, N., Newton, A., & McNeal, L. (2005). Husbands and Wives Living with Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 20-27.