systems dynamic model and care giving

[Rolfe Stanley]

I am the primary care giver for my wife who is in the advanced stages of
Alzheimers disease. Recently, I tried to express the dynamics of care
giving for an Alzheimers patient based on my personal experience. The
numerical values for all the input are "soft" in the sense they represent
my estimate of the parameter. The model is intended to tell a "story"..

I have been a systems thinker for almost 10 years applying much of my
knowledge to geological systems. Systems thinking has been very rewarding
in terms of my care giving since the essential dynamics involve a coflow
systems in which I basically respond to her needs in such a way as to
minimize the "abnormal behavior". The basic engine behind the model is a
slow exponential decay of her cognitive abilities. AS this decays, her
abnormal behavior increases which in turn increases the stress to me, the
principal care giver. Thus I have developed senarios that decrease my
stress which in turn help to reduce her abnormal behavior. I also believe
that these efforts have reduced the rate at which the disease is killing
her cognitive functions.

My question to the community is simply this: would anyone be interested in
reviewing the model and offering suggestions as to how it can be clarified
and presented in such a way that other care givers outside the systems
circle could find it useful. Many thanks


Rolfe Stanley
Stanley Computer Center
Fletcher Extension
From: Rolfe Stanley <rstanley@together.net>