Introduction
The limited resources of housing, day programs clinical support and family of the Federal and State government have allot of effects on individuals with cognitive impaired and developmental delay. Developmental delay and cognitive impairment are almost similar in that they both affect how a person acts, thinks and feels. Developmental delay is defined as the condition in which, an individual especially a child who develops at a slower rate compared to others their age. This development can be either physically or mentally. Cognitive impairment can be defined as simply mental retardation in which a person begins to loss their memories. This is what makes a person suffering from any of the ailment to have problems in the way they behave.
The problem this disease causes is what makes the treatment of the disease very expensive. This is where the government has to step in order to help the people who are unable to pay for their medication. However, the government provides limited resources through the services of Office of Mental Health (OMH) and Office for People With Developmental Disability (OPWDD), which has caused most of the people suffering from any of these diseases to be homeless or out of medication. The government has to formulate strategies in which they will be able to provide more funding to the two services so that the patients with these two diseases are treated and taken cared off.
It has been estimated that over 16 million people that are living in the United States have been reported to be suffering from cognitive impairment. The problem that has been noticed is the fact that the federal and the state government have not been able to fully understand their problems. There are some states that did an investigation on the impacts of the residents living with people have cognitive impairment (Alice, Nadine and Tiffany, 2002). The reason why they did this investigation was so that they can be able to formulate and maintain policies that will cater for the people’s needs at that particular state. The other reason that made the states to do the research was because there have been speculations that the number of people having cognitive impairment will continue to rise especially for the elderly. People with cognitive impairment have a lot of problems thus they need a lot of help from outsides sources apart from their families including the government. The government will come in handy especially for the families or patients who do not have enough money. The government however has not been able to meet the needs of these people because of the limited resources that have left behind for them to be taken care off.
Family
The families of the patients who have cognitive impairment or developmental delays are the ones who have a hard time when taking care of their relatives. This is most especially harder for families who are not well off thus they depend on the government. It is a fact that developmental delays and cognitive impairment is very expensive (Revheim, 2012). This is because it has been reported that people with this diseases have been hospitalized much more often than any other patients with other ailments. In the cognitive impairment, diseases that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are considered to be among the most expensive disease when it comes to its treatment. Most people with cognitive and developmental delays usually have problems when it comes to taking care of themselves thus they require the help of the families. It becomes a hustle for the families because most of the times the patients have bad days thus their behaviors will change therefore, the families may not be to take care of them.
The family members may also lose their temper when they cannot help them thus they may end up mistreating the patients by locking them in a room, handcuffing them in their beds or leaving them without any food. It has been stated that according to the nursing facility expenditure per state especially for the people who have Alzheimer’s disease is about 647 millions. This research was conducted in 2010. This expenditure includes the medication costs as well as the accommodation. It is important that the patient’s families are educated on the ways in which they can care for their relatives who are suffering from any of these diseases (Brault, 2012). The government through OMH and OPWDD has to formulate programs, which would be used to educate people who are taking care of the relatives suffering from these disorders. In the programs, they are also taught on how they can cope with the behavioral changes of the patients.
It is a fact that the patients with these two diseases will have problems on how they communicate, remembering things especially for the elderly or they exhibit childlike behaviors especially from the patients with developmental delays. This is what will make them have problems with their behaviors. The elderly people in the society who have no family member or a person to take of them and are suffering from cognitive impairment are usually eligible to get Medicare. This Medicare is usually a health insurance plan that is sponsored by the federal government. This comes in handy because they are able to get proper medical care. The ones who are not so lucky continue to be sick and die alone. The families with patients suffering from these diseases do really need help from the government especially when it comes to treatment of the diseases.
The federal and state government is supposed to increase the budget that will be used to cater for the medication of the disease. According to the Medicare, in the United States helps individuals who are over 65 years and have a permanent ailment, while the young adults suffering from developmental delay or cognitive impairment are not able to get this policy because they are not able to get social security benefits because their parents are unemployed or poor (Revheim, 2012). This is frustrating for both individuals because there is nothing they can do to solve their problems. The family should also have counseling sessions in order to express their emotions especially when the patients have bad days. This shows how funding is very important in the society.
Housing
Housing is a basic need that everyone in the world should have in their lives. This becomes even more important for people who are suffering from cognitive impairment and development delay. There are many people who have cognitive impairment and developmental delay that do not have families that would take care of them and their every need. They therefore, tend to find ways to take care of themselves but the problem comes when they do not remember who they really are or where they are going. The fact that they cannot have jobs or keep up with employment is what has made most of the patients with these disorders to be homeless. There are some of them who have families but they are not looked after thus becomes homeless. This shows how limited resources that is been given to this patients by the federal and state government is destroying the lives of these patients and endangering their lives.
The government has to find ways in which they can be able to increase the budget for mental health and developmental disability patients in the states. This will reduce the number of people in the streets and the sick will be able to get their medication on time thus will control the disease. The older people who are eligible for Medicare are one of the lucky ones who are able to get medical and housing help (Moss, 2000). This is not the same for others who are not so lucky especially those who are younger and have the same ailment. It is a fact that some of the people in the streets who suffer from cognitive impairment or developmental delay have been involved or became victims of violent crimes. Examples of those crimes are rape, murder, stealing and terrorist activities. Most of them when they commit these crimes they have no idea what they are doing. This has made many people in the federal and the state government to ask questions of how they can control these crimes from happening. The important questions they should be asking are how they are going to house and medicate these people.
Day programs clinical support
Day programs and clinics are very important for patients suffering from either cognitive impairment or developmental delays. This is because with the day programs the patients will be able to learn on how to live with their conditions and whenever there is a progress the nurses or doctors will be able to detect and give good news to their relatives. This good news is what most relatives and patients want in order to have that someday maybe life will get easier. This program is also very vital for children who have developmental delay when they are still children. This will cause the parent to take their children to hospital in order to be checked every now and then thus the condition could be checked.
Developmental delays can be detected when a child is still young by doing developmental screening. This will cause the pediatrician to be able to diagnose the child and will also be able to evaluate the findings. After evaluation when the doctors have fully confirmed that, they have this disorder then treatment program begins or early intervention services is offered to the patient (Petronko, 2003, 440). The early intervention services are used in order to be able to cater to the needs of the patients. The treatment plans or the early intervention services require money therefore, for parents or family members of the patients who cannot afford it this becomes a major problem. This is because they will have to forfeit the treatment and thus it will end up harming the patient even more.
There are times when the patient’s family can be able to start treatment but later on, they may not be able to continue paying for the treatment thus creating more problems for the patient. This is the same with the patients suffering from cognitive impairment. This therefore, becomes a problem of the state because even these patients are citizens. Most patients suffering from these diseases need day programs clinical support so that they can be able to cope and deal with their ailments. The patients with these ailments if they do not get day programs support then their behaviors will continue to deteriorate and in the case of Alzheimer’s disease, the patient will end up dead.
In conclusion, OMH and OPWDD are very useful for the patients suffering from cognitive impairment and developmental delay. This is because they help in the funding of the medication and care of the patients. The requirement for one to have is having medical documentation proving that a person has the disease or not. These services are made available because of the funding it gets from the federal and state government. The problem it has is that it gets limited funding therefore, they are not able to cater for all the patients. This therefore brings about a lot of consequences ranging from death to homelessness of the patients. The family also ends up suffering because when the patients go un-medicated they end up having behavioral problems for example mood swing, forgetting who they are or where they are. The other problems they encounter are that they end up doing criminal activities or becoming victims of violent crimes. It is a fact that both the government and the citizens need the services of OMH and OPWDD in order to care for the patients suffering from cognitive impairment and developmental delay.
Reference
Alice M., Nadine, R. and Tiffany, H. (2002). Remedition of Cognitive Deficits in Psychiatric Patients: A Clinician's Manual New York. New York: Montefiore Medical Center.
Brault, M. W. (2012). Americans With Disabilities: 2010. U.S Census Board , 70-131.
Criteria for Determining Eligibility for OPWDD Services. (2012). Seeing beyond disability .
Moss, I. S. (2000). Mental Health Resources on the Web for Families. Institute for Psychiatric Research.
Petronko, K. &. (2003). Crisis and Revolution in Developmental Disabilities: The Dilemma of Community Based Services. The Behavior Analyst Today , 434 -443 .
Revheim, A. M. (2012). Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with psychiatric disabilities. Office of Mental Health .
