April 04, 2016

Today's Top News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

An April 1, 2016 The Huffington Post piece by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s co-founder Trish Vradenburg highlighted the release of the Leader’s Guide For Seasons Of Caring For Alzheimer’s Caregivers. According to the article, “The Leader’s Guide for Seasons of Caring takes the caregivers out of isolation and lets them know they are not alone. It affirms feelings, empowers the individuals, guides facilitators, caretakers and the sufferers through a more productive, instructive healing process…But the Leader’s Guide deals with day-to-day life of both sufferer and caregiver. Much of the exercises deal with interaction in a group setting, but can guide and help a single individual as well. For instance, recognizing the signs for the caregiver — familiar, yet something you never put together before such as: forgetting dates, location of possessions; names of familiar friends; wandering at sundown with no idea how to get home; accusing members of your family of stealing from you; becoming confused and depressed; refusing a consultation and denying the validity of a diagnosis.” Learn more about the resource here.


MUST READS 

An April 2, 2016 Newsweek article highlighted how President Ronald Reagan dealt with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. According to the article, “The letter written in the former president’s own hand, was calm and positive despite the grim news: Ronald Reagan, now 83, is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. “At the moment I feel just fine,” Reagan wrote last week. “I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done…. Unfortunately,  as Alzheimer’s disease progresses,  the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.” Then he summed up:  “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.””

An April 1, 2016 The Fiscal Times article reported on the rising cost of Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “The report by the Alzheimer’s Association claims that total government spending this year for the hospital and nursing home care and hospice treatment for Alzheimer’s victims will reach $236 billion. More than two thirds of that total will come from Medicare and Medicaid, the twin national health care programs for seniors and low-income Americans…That figure represents a $10 billion increase in estimated overall costs to the government since last year, and it doesn’t begin to address the financial and emotional toll the disease is having on family members and friends of the victims.”


CAREGIVING SPOTLIGHT

An April 4, 2016 Huffington Post article by Alzheimer’s caregiver Marie Marley highlighted 10 things she learned from people living with Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “Just because they don’t talk doesn’t mean they aren’t perfectly aware of what’s going on around them and what people are saying to and about them: One of my ladies didn’t talk anymore, so when I visited I just held her hand and talked to her softly. I assumed she wasn’t aware of me or her surroundings. But when I told her she must be very proud of her daughter she adamantly shook her head from side to side, indicating ‘no.’ That told me she understood perfectly well what I was saying.”

An April 1, 2016 StarTribune article highlighted the financial and emotional toll of caregiving on Minnesotans. According to the article, “But caregivers are struggling to carry that load alone. Mary Jo George of AARP said the average American caregiver is a 49-year-old woman who works full time but also spends nearly 20 hours per week providing unpaid care, often for her mother, often for five years. Caregivers lose out financially, an AARP study found — $304,000 on average over their lifetimes due to unpaid leaves, shorter work hours, early retirements and the toll caregiving takes on their own health…At Wednesday’s hearing, I met Jessica Rohloff of Willmar. She described six years of caring for her grandmother, an Alzheimer’s victim whose dementia led to two broken legs. With no opportunity for paid leave, Rohloff left a job she loved and struggled financially thereafter. At age 42, her chances of regaining the career ground she lost are limited. A paid leave “would have made a huge difference,” she said.”

An April 1, 2016 Huffington Post article by Lisa Hirsch underscored the “mystery” of Alzheimer’s. According to Hirsch, “Mom lives a life I hope never to endure for myself or any of my other loved ones. Her life was once so full and now she is locked away in her own universe. It is hard to explain yet sometimes it appears that she is trapped in the unknown world of the “Twilight Zone”. Who am I to really judge if this is a life worth living. I wish that I could wave a magic wand and bring her back into the real world. Alzheimer’s disease is a true mystery that also fascinates me.”