Feelings of Elderly People Living in the Community after Being Diagnosed with Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of the feelings of elderly people living in the community after being diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease (hereinafter referred to as “mild AD”). Seven elderly people with mild AD were asked about their feelings in two rounds of semi-structured interviews: first, within a year of their diagnosis, and again a year later. The obtained narratives were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed to generate categories; first- and second-round categories were compared to assess their homogeneity and heterogeneity. Four categories of feelings experienced by elderly people after being diagnosed with mild AD were generated: distress toward knowing they have dementia; emotions of hope and despair toward their family; anxiety about socializing; and desire to live authentically in a familiar community. These results suggest that elderly people with mild AD wish to live in a familiar community a year later despite their distress about having developed dementia.