Alzheimer’s Awareness

Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease that robs many older adults of their memories, their self-awareness, and their independence. The progressive loss of cognitive function Alzheimer’s patients experience requires an escalating level of care. This can cause a real hardship for family caregivers.

Home health and hospice agencies help families care for their loved ones in the comfort and safety of their home. Home care enables Alzheimer’s patients to avoid the anxiety and confusion that comes with an office visit. Home health provides a multitude of services for the patient and their overwhelmed family caregivers:

• Education about disease progress

• Individual and family counseling

• Management and evaluation of patient care

• Observation and assessment

• Medication and home safety education

• Assistance with ADLs

• Restorative therapy

• Medical social services

Once a patient’s condition deteriorates to a six-month life expectancy, hospice can step in and take over. Alzheimer’s patients are often unable to report their symptoms, leaving them vulnerable to pain and various other conditions. Hospice nurses are trained to care for people who have lost some or all cognitive function and are excellent providers of palliative care for those nearing the end of life.

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Here are some ways your agency can plan now to get involved:

• Partner up with local Alzheimer’s support groups. Provide refreshments and information on your company’s respite services and in-home support for those caring for Alzheimer’s family members at home.

• Sponsor local awareness events like the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s .These walks raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s research.

Forgetfulness vs Alzheimer’s: Tweets that you can copy and paste, courtesy of the National Institute on Aging:

1. How can you tell the difference between mild forgetfulness & serious memory problems? Find out in this infographic: http://bit.ly/2nvUbLZ

2. What’s normal aging and what may be a sign of Alzheimer’s? Check out this infographic to see what’s typical: http://bit.ly/2mQj4Fp

3. Read and share this infographic about normal memory problems vs Alzheimer’s disease. http://bit.ly/2nhqeh1

Visit tagwebstore.com for Home Health and Hospice Educational and Marketing Materials.

Related: Find the Alzheimer’s Association in your community: https://www.alz.org/local_resources/find_your_local_chapter

Step up Alzheimer’s awareness efforts this September

The number of people being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease is climbing every year and there is no end in sight. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that given current trends and without a major breakthrough in treatment to slow or stop the disease, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will rise from about 5 million today to about 16 million in 2050.

September is World Alzheimer’s Month and Sept. 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day. Show your support for research to treat this serious disease and support for those living with it.

• Commit to being a sponsor or entering a team into the Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s event in your community. The walks raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s support, care and research.
• While a large number of Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s disease or know someone who is, there is still a great deal of misinformation about the condition. Partner with a geriatrician or neurologist and host a friendly educational session about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Distribute informational flyers about Alzheimer’s/dementia and how your agency can help.
• Family members caring for those with Alzheimer’s disease often have a more difficult burden than those caring for loved ones without cognitive difficulties. Contact a local support group for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers and offer to sponsor the refreshments for an upcoming meeting. Ask to speak briefly about the respite services and other services your agency offers to assist those caring for family members with Alzheimer’s disease at home. While there, distribute a helpful brochure about Alzheimer’s disease and how your company can help.
• Identify a patient with Alzheimer’s disease who has been helped by your organization. Ask the patient and his or her caregiver whether they would be willing to talk with a local newspaper or television reporter about how the disease has impacted their lives. Then contact your favorite local reporter and pitch a story that ties in with World Alzheimer’s Month and puts a real community face on the disease. Be sure to make the patient’s caregiver and your agency’s clinical experts available to talk about the disease and how your agency helps the patient and his or her family cope.
• Identify a local politician or civic group that regularly hosts community meetings and volunteer to speak about Alzheimer’s disease, how it affects families, and the work being done to try to stop the disease. Don’t forget to take along plenty of agency collateral and also let them know how your agency can help.
• Contact your local newspaper’s editorial board and offer to write a guest editorial about Alzheimer’s disease awareness during World Alzheimer’s Month. If this request is denied, write and submit a simple letter to the editor briefly conveying the importance of Alzheimer’s awareness and Alzheimer’s care.

August 2014: Educate and promote healthy aging

Alzheimer’s disease affects the lives of more than 5 million Americans and it is the nation’s fifth leading cause of death among adults age 65 or older. September is World Alzheimer’s Month and September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day. Treat these observances as opportunities to educate your community about this disease and how your agency can help.

• Mental engagement can help keep aging minds sharp and stave off mental decline. Distribute puzzle books personalized with your agency’s name and contact information to visitors of your local senior centers. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
• Place informative brochures about Alzheimer’s disease and how your agency can help in the waiting rooms of your community’s geriatricians. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
• Demonstrate to referral sources that your services include a concrete plan to help their patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Patient education guides not only empower patients and their families to take an active role in the patient’s care, but help improve compliance and outcomes. Get the patient education guide for Alzheimer’s disease at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.

National Women’s Health and Fitness Day is right around the corner (always held on the last Wednesday in September), and it’s a great time to highlight women’s health issues while calling attention to your agency’s efforts and services.

• Volunteer your agency to participate in a community event organized in celebration of the day. Have free blood pressure screenings and a variety of personalized rack cards for visitors to pick up. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/rack-cards.php.
• Host a ladies’ day at a local senior center or assisted living facility. This can include an event such as a craft project (decorating plain cards with embellishments and stamps is a fun one) and an educational class on an issue such as diet and nutrition or senior exercise. Find ready-made classes at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
• Partner with your local parks department and host a seniors walk or tai chi orientation class at a local park. Remind attendees about the importance of good hydration and distribute water bottles personalized with your agency’s logo and contact information. Get them at http://theadamgrp.espwebsite.com/.

September is Healthy Aging Month, which presents an incredible opportunity to connect with seniors in your community and promote ways you can help them age more healthfully at home.

• Host a Healthy Aging Month open house. Have many agency representatives available to speak about the different aspects of home care and describe the services available to your community’s residents. Emphasize the ways your agency promotes independence and healthy aging, and be sure to distribute plenty of FAQ brochures and personalized disease information brochures. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/faq-brochures.php and www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
• Participate in community health fairs this month and have a nurse available to field questions at a special ask-a-nurse table. Have tons of agency collateral available and distribute pocket-sized hand sanitizer spray personalized with your agency’s name and logo. Get it at www.tagwebstore.com/mistagerm.php.
• One of the most important things an older adult can do to continue living independently is take precautions to prevent falls. Host a free educational class on fall prevention at a local house of worship. Distribute agency brochures at the event and promote your agency’s free fall prevention in-home assessments. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.