Ruby Bowen: A Case Study Take-Away

Caroline did a great job presenting to our small group about her maternal grandmother named Ruby Bowen who suffered from Alzheimer's dementia. Ruby was diagnosed around the age of 75 or 76 and passed away at the age of 79. Ruby had many roles such as being a mom, grandmother, wife, friend, etc. Her interests were great in gardening and being a seamstress. As the disease progressed, Ruby began to forget who her loved ones were and was also very uninterested in participating in gardening and sewing due to being very lethargic. Caroline described it as a downward spiral and she progressively got worse with her ADLs and cognition. Ruby actually saw an OT during her treatment process with Alzheimer's and there were some goals but the specifics of those are unknown. Caroline suggested goals such as helping her with feeding and eating, dressing herself, carrying out a conversation with others, and just with more independence in ADLs in general. There were a couple long term goals mentioned that were definitely client-centered and well thought out. These goals were also supplemented with creative activities to assist Ruby in achieving her goals and working toward a more independent and happy way of living. Overall, the presentation was very informative and I found it interesting to here from someone who had a family member suffer from this diagnosis. It gave it a more personal outlook which was beneficial to learn from.