Help for Alzheimer’s Patients AND Their Caregivers
September 25, 2010
Shakespeare said that old age is a return to childhood; without teeth, without voice… and in the case of Alzheimer’s patients, without memories. But if the elderly have to endure the drawbacks of childhood, shouldn’t they get some of the benefits too?
The Family Caregiver Alliance must have thought so too, because a few times a year they sponsor a weekend sleepover in Alamo, California called Camps for Caring. The program provides campers with an experience “of shared meals and stories, of activities creative and expressive, of exercise in the outdoors and of new friends and memories made over the weekend.” But the significance of the experience can go far beyond that.
According to a recent story about Camps for Caring on NPR Radio, although “campers typically don’t remember details of the retreat… the experience significantly lifts their mood.” In fact, “Post-camp surveys of family caregivers indicate that the ‘good feeling’ lingers, and it even can improve daily functioning.”
Beyond being a beneficial experience for the elderly attendees, Camps for Caring provides a much-needed break for overworked caregivers, who often attend to their elderly loved one around the clock, and can quickly find themselves dangerously close to the burnout breaking point.
Out of state residents may find it difficult to take advantage of the Camps for Caring program, but that doesn’t mean that caregivers or their elderly charges must leave themselves at the mercy of the effects of Alzheimer’s. In addition to information about Camps for Caring itself, the NPR article includes some tips from experts that can make dealing with Alzheimer’s easier on everyone. Or you can go to the Family Caregiver Alliance’s Family Care Navigator to find organizations and resources in your area.
New Website May Help Caregivers Breathe a Sigh of Relief
June 12, 2009
If you provide care for an elderly relative or a special needs child you know how much work is involved in just getting away for an afternoon or evening, let alone planning for their care if you were to pass away. First you have to find a caregiver qualified to handle your loved one’s more demanding needs, then there are lists upon lists of “what if” situations, a strict regimen of prescription medicines, and of course all of the little quirks and routines that must be strictly followed. And after all that, just when you feel comfortable leaving your loved one in the care of someone else… your “babysitter” moves away and you have to go through it all again.
What if there was a way that you could not only keep a record of all details, regimens and instructions, but also an easy way to update and communicate that information to any and all caregivers when anything changed? And would it be too much to ask to have this record somehow linked to all the latest research, resources and best-practice recommendations? Apparently it is not too much to ask, because this is exactly what the new online service, CareGiver360®, claims to provide.
CareGiver360® is the brainchild of Ken Ziel, father of a special needs son, who worried about what kind of life his son would have if anything were to happen to Ken. After much research, Ken started CareGiver360®, “an easy to use, interactive Web service that lets you create a secure Personalized Care Guide to help you manage the care of your loved one. CareGiver360® provides a wealth of caregiving resources through its searchable online library. You can draw upon this valuable resource to supplement your personal experience to create a customized, comprehensive care guide.”
CareGiver360® is a fairly new tool, but it sounds so good one has to wonder why nobody came up with the idea before. We would love to provide our clients and readers with helpful reviews, so if you’ve used the service please leave a comment letting us know how it worked for you. And we ought to mention that the service isn’t free, but at just under $10/month it’s probably not going to break the bank either.
Maria Shriver and HBO: Bringing Alzheimer’s out of the Back Room and into the Living Room
May 17, 2009
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Every 70 seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
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5.3 million people are currently suffering from Alzheimer’s
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Alzheimer’s is now the sixth leading cause of death
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There are 9.9 million unpaid caregivers in America
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One in eight people over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer’s
(from the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures)
Alzheimer’s is a disease that touches each one of us in one way or another; whether we care for a loved one with the disease, have experienced the pain of watching a parent or grandparent slowly lose themselves to it, or live with the fear of being diagnosed with it ourselves. With one in eight people aged 65 or older already suffering from Alzheimer’s and another person diagnosed every 70 seconds, we can no longer to afford to bury our heads in the sand and hope that Alzheimer’s will pass over our family. It’s time to bring the disease into the light.
Bringing Alzheimer’s into the light is exactly what Maria Shriver is doing with her moving article in the Huffington Post and with her children’s book, What’s Happening to Grandpa? Shriver isn’t the only one who feels that Alzheimer’s deserves more attention; HBO aired their Alzheimer’s Project this past weekend, featuring, among other things, a four part documentary series.
Although the facts about this disease are frightening—especially as the Baby-Boomers near the age of 65—a common theme among experts and activists is optimism and hope. The more the public is aware of Alzheimer’s and its implications for their own futures and families, the more can be done not only for victims of Alzheimer’s themselves and in the search for treatment, but also in support of caregivers and loved ones.
Jinies.com