Essential Question: What strategies can I use in my therapy to help patients with Alzheimer's disease improve language function?

Foundation Questions:
1. What is Alzheimer's Disease?

2. How does it affect speech, language, and general communication?

3. Can a patient's communication problems be "fixed" or is compensation the key?

4. What types of realistic goals can be set for a patient with Alzheimer's?

5. Can the strategies developed carry over as person progresses through the stages of Alzheimer's or will new strategies have to be taught with each stage?

6. What can I do when the person can no longer be taught new strategies for communication?

Tentative Point:
Patient's with Alzheimer's disease need strategies to help them communicate effectively.

Tentative Genres:
1. Webliography (Clinician)
2. Power Point Presentation (Clinician)
3. Poem (Client)
4. Interview (Client)
5. Letter to Politician (Clinician)
6. Guest Editorial (Client's Family)

Integrating Genres:
I am thinking of telling a story about an Alzheimer's patient, his/her struggles with language and communication, and the strategies he/she used to be more functional.

Tentative Resources:
Still looking...

My essential question is, "What can I do in my therapy to help patients with Alzheimer's have more functional language and communication? I feel that these questions must be answered before tackling the bigger question...

1. What is Alzheimer's Disease?

2. How does it affect speech, language, and general communication?

3. Can a patient's communication problems be "fixed" or is compensation the key?

4. What types of realistic goals can be set for a patient with Alzheimer's?

5. Can the strategies developed carry over as person progresses through the stages of Alzheimer's or will new strategies have to be taught with each stage?

6. What can I do when the person can no longer be taught new strategies for communication?

Like some of my fellow classmates, I too enjoyed our Neurogenics class last semester. Studying how a person can go from having completely normal communication to having severe disorders was really interesting to me. Also, the brain is really an amazing thing! Another area that I'm really interested in is the elderly population. I worked for two years as a volunteer at the hospital in my town on the Nursing Care Facility Ward. I worked with elderly patients with a number of health problems and disorders. As one would imagine, there were many patients on the ward with Alzheimer's disease and it was really sad, but at the same time interesting to interact with these people. I've always wondered if there were some way that people with Alzheimer's could be taught strategies that would make them more functional and independent. It's sad to see them stuck in a nursing home just because of this disease. They might be healthy as a horse physically, but they're mind is going so they stick them in a home.

My essential question is...What can I do in my therapy to help patients with Alzheimer's have more functional language and communication?