Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Glenn Mitchell
UWRT 1104
Professor Jizi
29 March 2017
Annotated Bibliography
"Asked and Answered Canadian Virtual Hospice." Asked and Answered Canadian Virtual
This source is a web article that first talks about the early stages of ALS and how
it can be slow to notice someone that has it. It also says in the early stages of being
diagnosed they may give you specialized team of different doctors that will help you
along the way. This source also goes into detail on how ALS affects eating and breathing
and they give tips on how to get around those difficulties such as feeding tubes or
breathing machines.
on how ALS affects the body such as eating and breathing. It also raised the question to
me of how long do people with ALS normally live so Im going to use that to help me
This is a valid source because it comes from Virtual Hospice which has a lot of
professionals in many fields that work for them and they provide information on the
topics. The website has a lot of testimonials from people about the information they have
received and how it has helped and Virtual Hospice keeps adding professionals to their
Bartels, EJ. "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Helping the Patient with Lou Gehrig's Disease." Rn.
In this source Bartel was first discussing how when he was trying to help his
patient Joe with ALS he must first research what ALS is so that there is no confusion.
Bartel was saying the definition of what ALS is and what parts of the body it can affect
and how it can affect it. After that he goes into depth of how you can actually help
someone with ALS and he breaks it down based on which part of the body is affected.
He also gives tips on how to help someone with ALS when they are eating such as
keeping their head in a certain position. Bartel states that while working with someone
with ALS you should be there for them but also check on yourself so you dont stop
which I can help someone with ALS and be a better caretaker for that person. It also has
helped me think about where to go next in my sources as I need to research more into
ALS to figure out what exactly it is because I know what it is but it would be better to go
into more detail. The article also fits into my project because it gave me real life tips on
how I can help someone and it gives me hope to help more people and be more
This is a valid and credible source because it was a journal that EJ Bartel wrote
about his personal findings while working with those with ALS and he also used research
and data to back up his points. Since the information given was from his journal it is
credible because he did research about ALS and has written plenty of other journals about
Mitchell 3
ALS. It was also reviewed by someone to make sure the information was correct but the
Mark Stibich, PhD - Reviewed by a Board-certified Physician. "What Is the Life Expectancy of a
This source starts off by giving a brief explanation of what ALS is which is a
neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It then
goes into giving some fact about the average life expectancy of someone that has ALS.
Over 50% live over 3 years, 20% live over 5 years, 10% over 10 years and 5% over 20
years. It then goes into details about ways you can increase your life expectancy such as
now, the only medication approved by the FDA is Riluzole which helps prolong life
expectancy for a few months but there is other medication that will help their quality of
life. Noninvasive ventilation helps increase life expectancy 7-11 months and it uses a
tube and a mask to help you breath. Percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy is a tube thats
life expectancy is something people helping those with ALS should know. Knowing
what medication may help increase life expectancy and also make their quality of life
good is something important to know because already having the disease is bad. This
source raised the question of if there is someone who has lived for a long time while
Mitchell 4
having ALS. It will be interesting to see how they have survived and maybe how people
This is a valid source because it is written by Mark Stibich who has a PhD from
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer
for Xenex Healthcare Services which is a company that uses a disinfection system they
made to make patient care areas safer. This source is also valid because it is reviewed by
a board-certified physician and the source Stibich used were from the ALS website.
McCoy, Terrence. "How Stephen Hawking, Diagnosed with ALS Decades Ago, Is Still
Alive." The Washington Post. WP Company, 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
This article is about Stephen Hawking who Is a man that was diagnosed with ALS
and he has been living with ALS for so long. The article talks about how Hawking
shouldnt be able to do what he can now because of the ALS. The article also talks about
how the average lifespan of someone with ALS is 2-5 years and how Hawking has passed
the two-decade mark twice which leads people to wonder how is he still alive. It talks
about how Hawking got ALS when he was 22 which is a young age to have ALS and that
someone who has ALS and while researching about ALS in my project his name came up
a lot. Also, it is relevant because they go into depth to see how Stephen Hawking has
lived so long and that information can help when helping someone with ALS. This
article didnt bring up any new questions for my project but it answered questions I had
This source is valid because it is an article in The Washington Post which is a well
respected newspaper that a lot of people read. It is written by Terrence McCoy who is a
writer for the Washington Post and he writes a lot of articles about different topics such as
solutions to social problems, poverty, social justice and more. He is a well respected
writer and he has been with the Washington Post for a long time as well which shows that
he is very reliable.
02, 2015 Linda Matchan Globe Staff January. "Caring for ALS Patient Takes Toll on
Extraordinary Family - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 02 Jan. 2015. Web. 09 Apr.
2017.
This article is about how helping someone with ALS can have an effect on the
person helping them and the patients family. In this article they interviewed a family in
which the mother Joanne has ALS and John, Melissa, and Melissas father Michael
Rocha are taking care of her. Joanne has been in the hospital and ALS has taken over her
body but she said she wants to stay alive for as long as she can and it influences the
family. The family must go every day to the hospital and they help take care of her and
they havent gone on vacation in over 12 years because they are constantly always
worried about her. They all admit to how hard the process is of helping Joanne is and
they have their own health problems themselves but they cant focus on them since they
helping someone with ALS and this helps talk about helping someone with ALS and the
affects it can have on your life. I think it is important to know about these things before
you start helping someone because your life is important also. It is also very relevant to
Mitchell 6
hearing the information they share personally can really help me learn about being a
This is a valid source because it is from the Boston Globe and it was an interview
that was done of a family that is affected by ALS. The information shared in the
interview is all shared first hand by the family which helps the validity and also with it
being the Boston Globe which is a reputable source helps increase the validity even more.
The Boston Globe has been around for a long time and people all across the United States
read it.