Neuro Note #1-MCI

    I read the article entitled "A Typical Day with Mild Cognitive Impairment". In the article, it talks about a project that was done by the University of Pennsylvania's Memory center where patients were to take pictures on a camera of a "typical day" living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Afterwards, the patients discussed the aspects of their life that frustrate, facilitate, or challenge their memory. To further my learning I made sure to understand what MCI is and how it is diagnosed so I could better understand the article. I chose this resource amongst others because I have heard a lot about cognitive impairments, dementia, and Alzheimer's, but I never knew or heard of MCI. I wanted to learn about what MCI stood for/meant, and what the difference was from dementia or Alzheimer's. 

    In relation to our course content, I learned that it is important to consider caregivers as well as the patient when creating intervention strategies. In the article, the patient Bob, said he knew his memory wasn't "normal" and there was a steady decline. He mentioned that his wife is his caregiver and when he was first diagnosed she was embarrassed but had eventually come to terms with the diagnosis. In the article it says that social embarrassment is not uncommon with patients or their caregivers. Therefore, I think it is important to include caregivers in the intervention part of treatment because it is necessary that they know how to best help the patient at all times. I also learned that even with MCI, you can have trouble with appropriate social participation, and that is a big role the caregiver can play a role in helping them. 

I highly recommend this resource for others to learn from. It taught me the importance of caregivers with those with MCI and how it can be a struggle for them too if they do not have the proper training on how to do it. It is a great resource to look at this project and the results of the project. It gives a better understanding of a couple challenges a person with MCI might have. 

Here is the link to the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5425906/

References

Hailu T., Cannuscio C.C., Dupuis R., Karlawish J. (2017). A typical day with mild cognitive impairment. American Journal of Public Health, 107(6), 927-928. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303752