Category: Alzheimer's
Retirees targeted with investment scams
MSNBC
Annuities. Reverse mortgages. Life insurance pools. Principal-protected notes. The options being offered to senior citizens hoping to ensure a comfortable retirement are dizzying. And in a growing number of cases, that may be the intention as more scammers — often elderly themselves — try to con retirees.
Though hard numbers are difficult to come by, many lawyers and advocates for the elderly say more seniors than ever are being lured into investment schemes that are unsuitable for people of their age or are outright swindles.
“Seniors who suffer from isolation and diminished capacity make ideal targets,” says Steve Riess, a San Francisco attorney who represents elderly victims of con artists peddling bogus investments.
One out of five Americans over the age of 65 has been the victim of a financial scam, according to the Washington-based Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit that promotes shareholder education.
via Scams: A sucker retires every minute – Business – Your retirement – msnbc.com.
Posted on July 27, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, finances
Adult night-care service for Alzheimer’s patients who may wander
The Grand Rapids Press
Nighttime is when some Alzheimer’s patients are most restless, creating an anxious, sleepless time for caregivers who worry about their loved ones wandering.
“It is common for them to get their circadian rhythms off,” said Jean Van Den Beldt, administrator of Byron Center Manor, which plans to begin a new dawn-to-dusk activity program called Twilight Care.
The dementia-care and adult-day services community at 2115 84th St. SW is starting the program, which will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., to keep restless patients in a safe, stimulating environment. The cost is $120 per night.
via New service keeps restless Alzheimer’s patients busy at night | MLive.com.
Posted on July 23, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: adult daycare, Alzheimer's, caregiver stress, Caregiving, Dementia, family caregiving, respite care, sundowning, Wandering
DVD on fall prevention for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, family caregivers
Alzheimer's Foundation of America
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America AFA recently released “Preventing Falls: Practical Steps to Reduce Fears and Risks,” the latest DVD in AFA’s “Your Time to Care” series of educational programs for family caregivers, in the hopes of helping caregivers reduce their own risk of falls and prevent their loved ones from falling.
Falls are a very common and life-threatening occurrence and are particularly worrisome for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that primarily affects people older than 65. In fact, according to federal government statistics, one out of three individuals over the age of 65 will experience a fall, resulting in 20,000 deaths annually.“What’s really important to know is that a fall is preventable,” said Laura N. Gitlin, Ph.D., one of the experts featured in the DVD and director of the Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.
With this in mind, “Preventing Falls” provides insight into why dementia intensifies the incidence of falls and offers practical strategies from experts and family caregivers on how to reduce risk factors, including communication techniques, home modifications and lifestyle changes.
via Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Releases New DVD on Preventing Falls.
Posted on July 23, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, family caregiving
Caregiving spouses of Alzheimer’s patients put own health at risk
Sacramento Bee
Jackie Hackbart is a caregiver under stress.
She can’t leave her husband, Bob, 82, who suffers from dementia, alone in their Citrus Heights town house – and she can’t leave him with a sitter, because he forgets where she’s gone and gets distressed.
Since the retired chemical engineer’s diagnosis in 2005, dementia has robbed him not only of memory and cognition, but also of independence. In many ways, it’s robbed his wife of her independence, too.
“The past five years have been a challenge,” said Hackbart, 78, a retired dietitian. “Mostly, I try to keep a stiff upper lip.”
But the stiff upper lip exacts a steep toll: Hackbart has been hospitalized twice in the past year for gastrointestinal bleeding, most recently in March.
Posted on July 19, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, family caregiving
Children of Alzheimer’s sufferers want to know their risk
CNN
Greg was a teenager when his grandfather told him and his brother, with increasing anger and frustration, “Dean, get out there and milk the cows!”
There were indeed cows at his grandparents’ farm, but Dean — Greg’s uncle — wasn’t there, and the grandchildren weren’t supposed to be milking them.
“The confusion or the memory loss of Alzheimer’s — now as I look back, it’s like, that’s what was going on,” said Greg, 39, a marketing representative in Denver, Colorado. His grandfather died from Alzheimer’s complications, and now his mother has it at 65. “It’s saddening and disheartening to watch someone you love disappear like that,” he said.
Greg is one of many children of the 5.3 million people living with Alzheimer’s in the United States who face the terrifying possibility of inheriting a predisposition to the disease. Now that there are tests in the works for early detection of brain injury due to Alzheimer’s, as well as other biological markers of the disease, the question becomes: Would you want to know?
via Children of Alzheimer’s sufferers want to know their risk – CNN.com.
Posted on July 16, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's | Tags: Alzheimer's
Arts 4 Alzheimer’s draws relief for patients and caregivers
tonic
Even though the disease robs people of their memories and recognitions, there is also a secondary sufferer of Alzheimer’s. Caregivers provide day-to-day help for loved ones battling the disease, but have to stand by and take on the emotional pain, as well.
Providing relief for people with early-stage memory loss, and their caregivers, is the the Arts 4 Alzheimer’s program developed by Tania Becker, president of the board of the Spruill Center in Atlanta with the help of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Alzheimer’s Association.
via Arts 4 Alzheimer’s Draws Relief For Patients and Caregivers – Tonic.
Posted on July 13, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: Alzheimer's, art, Dementia
Alzheimer’s experts: Don’t hesitate to get paid help
USA Today
Marilyn Blum is like a lot of wives with a retired husband around the house. She loves the man she has been married to for 33 years but says, “It’s just not normal to be together 24/7.”
Blum’s comment is more poignant when she explains that her husband, Steve, 65, has had Alzheimer’s disease for five years and needs help dressing, grooming, eating and using the toilet.
“I wish I had gotten paid help right away. I waited two years,” says Blum, 61, of Owings Mills, Md.
Now Steve participates in an adult day care program. A paid companion, Evadne Cummins, visits the house three times a week to keep Steve company, make lunch, go on walks and help with basic grooming.
via Alzheimer’s experts: Don’t hesitate to get paid help – USATODAY.com.
Posted on July 13, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: adult daycare, Alzheimer's, family caregiving, respite care
Dr. Robert Butler, pioneer in field of aging, dead
MSNBC
Dr. Robert Butler, a pioneer in the field of aging, died this week. Dr. Butler will be remembered for many things; He founded the National Institute on Aging, he coined the term “ageism,” he authored many books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Why Survive? Being Old in America” and he founded the nation’s first department of geriatrics, at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical School. Here’s a PBS interview with Dr. Butler from the show Life (Part 2).
NEW YORK — Dr. Robert Butler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on aging who coined the phrase “ageism,” has died in New York City, his daughter said Tuesday. He was 83.
He died Sunday of leukemia at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Christine Butler said.
Butler, a gerontologist and psychiatrist, was the founding director of the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health. He wrote several books on aging, including the 1976 Pulitzer-winning “Why Survive: Being Old in America.”
via Robert Butler, who coined ‘ageism,’ dies at 83 – Health – msnbc.com.
Posted on July 8, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia | Tags: aging, Alzheimer's, Caregiving
LoJack SafetyNet available in Marshfield, Mass., to find people with autism, Alzheimer’s who wander
The Marshfield Mariner
Marshfield —With training having been completed June 22, the Marshfield Police Department has officially added LoJack Safety Net to its public safety arsenal.
The program, which has been implemented by police and fire departments nationwide, will provide Marshfield officials the tools they need to swiftly track down and rescue those who have wandered from their caregivers.
“People who want to sign up can go online with LoJack Safety Net or come here,” said veteran Marshfield police officer Ralph Poland, who on a recent afternoon behind the police station learned first-hand — along with several other officers and firefighters — how to use the advanced tracking equipment.
Poland, who is helping to implement the program, said police and fire officials know that it only takes a moment for a resident with Alzheimer’s disease, autism or any other condition that may predispose them to do so to wander off or disappear. In North America alone, according to LoJack Safety Net figures, more than 5.8 million people have Alzheimer’s disease, and the majority may have a tendency to wander.
via Police, fire officers complete LoJack training – Marshfield, MA – Marshfield Mariner.
Posted on July 7, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Autism, Caregiving, Dementia, Down Syndrome | Tags: first responders, LoJack SafetyNet, Massachusetts, police, Wandering
How to care for someone with Alzheimer’s without losing yourself
Geriatric Care Management
If you’re caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, read this great advice from the Geriatric Care Management blog. It may change your caregiving experience for the better — for you and your loved one.
There are many things to be struck by whenever I meet with the daughter, son, spouse or friend of someone with Alzheimer’s. Strong, compassionate, patient – these words describe but never capture the essence of the person in front of me.
And as we talk, I’m invited into their unique experience of the illness. They share the good days with me and offer up the parts they wouldn’t change for anything.
But something else emerges too. It’s a sense of being lost – unable to tell any more where their needs begin and the needs of the person they are caring for, end.
Posted on June 30, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Alzheimer's, Caregiving | Tags: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, family caregiving, respite care