Dementia Caregivers Shouldn’t ‘Go it Alone’

An estimated 5.4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, and 70 percent are cared for in the community by family members and friends, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Many have mild to moderate dementia.

Most people with dementia who live at home have multiple unmet health and welfare needs, any number of which could jeopardize their ability to remain home for as long as they desire, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. The study also indicates that identifying and treating depression in people with dementia and their caregivers may enable them to address their other unmet needs.

 

“Currently, we can’t cure their dementia, but we know there are things that, if done systematically, can keep people with dementia at home longer,” says study leader Betty S. Black, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

 

Black and her colleagues performed in-home assessments and surveys of 254 people with dementia living at home in Baltimore and also interviewed 246 of their informal, non-professional caregivers. They found that 99 percent of people with dementia and 97 percent of their caregivers had one or more unmet needs.

 

Unmet needs fell into many categories including safety, health, meaningful activities, legal issues and estate planning, assistance with activities of daily living and medication management, Black says.

 

Here are two important resources designed to help caregivers like you: The book “Confidence to Care” is for family caregivers providing care for Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias at home. It’s easy to read and offers practical advice from experts and family caregivers such as you.

 

The book provides insights into understanding, managing and preventing actions associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. What’s more, a free mobile phone app based on content from the book provides more than 500 searchable tips and solutions for family caregivers. For more information about these tools, go to HelpforAlzheimersFamilies.com.

Don’t “go it alone.” Contact your local Home Instead Senior Care^® office to learn how a CAREGiver^SM could provide you and your family with support.

For more about the study, visit http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/living_at_home_with_dementia.