Alzheimer’s Care

More than 5 million individuals in the US and 500,000 Canadians suffer from a form of dementia, and as the population ages an increase of 40% is expected within the next decade. Alzheimer’s, the progressive brain disorder causing memory loss accounts for more than half of all dementia cases. Treatment can help to an extent to lessen the affects, but there is still no cure.

For eleven years I pleaded with my stubborn elderly father to allow a caregiver to help him with my ailing mother, but after 55 years of loving each other he adamantly insisted on taking care of her himself. Every caregiver I hired to help him soon called in exasperation, "Jacqueline, I just can't work with your father–his temper is impossible to handle. I don't think he’ll accept help until he's on his knees himself."

For the first time in 27 years, the definition of Alzheimer’s disease is being recast in new medical guidelines that reflect fast-mounting evidence that it begins ravaging the brain years before the symptoms of dementia.

Watch the short video and find out what a Bald Chicken and aging and illness have in common. I think you will be surprised!

Dear Readers,

Maybe this is a good time to remind everyone that long-term care truly is ‘a family affair’.  In our country, 90% of care is undertaken by family in one’s own home and 1 in 5 caregivers still provide care to their loved ones even when in a care facility.  As well, 80% of Alzheimer’s-dementia persons are cared for at home, usually by a spouse.

Abbeyfield - is a type of shared supportive housing based on a model developed in Great Britain, that has been adapted in British Columbia and other parts of Canada. Usually residents have a private room, perhaps their own bathroom, but other living spaces are shared with 10 to 12 other residents. A housekeeper usually provides meals, cleaning and other support. The term group home is also used to describe this type of residence.

Aging in place - refers to older people who remain living in the community and the dwelling they consider home despite changing health. The term encompasses safety and accessibility of the pedestrian and built environments as well as access to community amenities and necessary support and health services. Since different people make different choices, a community that encourages aging in place will offer a variety of housing options and services to its citizens.

Some 1,500 delegates from around the world – including researchers, health professionals, family caregivers and people with dementia – are expected in Toronto this weekend for the annual conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International.

Marc Wortmann, executive director of ADI, a federation of 70 Alzheimer groups, spoke to Globe and Mail public health reporter André Picard about the big issues in dementia care.

If you have a loved one living with you who has a diagnosis of some type of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, you must take steps to ensure their safety in your home.  You will be challenged every day in ways you never dreamed possible, and your goal will be to keep that loved one safe from harm in your home.  That is much more easily said than done, and I would like to offer some important tips for you to consider:

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Endless, irrational activities, continual requests for food or drink, an endless merry-go-round of medicines and never-ending questions or concerns about life, death, old friends, relatives and imagined events are just a few of the things family members deal with in providing senior care for those with Alzheimer’s and related dementia.