PROVIDER PERSPECTIVE : Suzanne Fields (1)
Text Transcript

One is what I call the matriarch syndrome. This is the situation which I face almost on a daily basis in my practice. I have an elderly woman in her eighties who has early to moderate Alzheimer's disease and cannot cope with her household. But she is a woman who for fifty to sixty years has run her house, and doesn't want to give up her independence. The problem that this woman faces, and that her children face, are the same regardless of whether her name is Mrs. Levy, Mrs. Jackson, Senora Rivera-it's a problem that is cross-cultural. And how families deal with getting mom help when mom doesn't want help or refuses to recognize that is similar across culture. Mr. Levy might tell Mrs. Levy that Hadassah from the synagogue is providing this help for her, free of charge, while he is privately paying and a Hispanic family might take this mother or move in with mom to provide the care. It doesn't really matter. The problems being faced are human problems, and need to be addressed regardless of the culture.