COVID-19 and Dementia: What People Have Learned about Themselves

The Alzheimer’s community has experienced enormous hardship and heartache since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March. Dementia caregivers are dealing with ongoing stress and people with Alzheimer’s report more rapid cognitive decline. Nursing home residents have been terribly affected by COVID-19 with rising cases and deaths, and restrictions on visitors meaning long separations from family. Throughout the last eight months, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST has surveyed caregivers and people living with dementia on the impact of the pandemic, and learned about their stress, their isolation and their fears. But the surveys also have shown their insights and introspections. In a recent survey

COVID-19 and Dementia: Lessons for the Next Pandemic

People with dementia and care partners are among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly Black and Latino families. A new UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST® survey shows ongoing closures and restrictions continue to seriously affect the memory and behaviors of those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and cause enormous ongoing stress for caregivers. In our September A-LIST survey, we asked respondents, “What do you think your local, state and federal governments, and community-based groups, should be doing to help those living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and their caregivers to prepare for the next pandemic?” Here are some of

COVID-19 and Dementia: Imagining the Future with a Vaccine

With the national conversation focused on when a vaccine for COVID-19 might be approved and available, our recent UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST® survey asked the Alzheimer’s community about how their lives might change with an available vaccine. The September survey showed that 60 percent of survey respondents intend to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it is available. That’s nearly double the percentage of respondents in a recent national survey, but it still reflected concern that the vaccine development and testing was being rushed for political reasons. No community is being harder hit by a non-infectious disease in the middle of the COVID-19

A-LIST Pulse of the Community (Archive 2018-2020)

A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 1, Spring 2018 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 2, Fall 2018 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 3, Spring 2019 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 4, Fall 2019 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 5, Spring 2020 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 6, April 2020

What Will Happen to My Loved One if I Become Sick with COVID-19? Making a Plan.

By Terry Frangiosa and Meryl Comer The personal and collective fear of “What If I Get Sick with COVID-19?” continues to dominate headlines and affect the mindset of people across the nation and much of the world. To bring it closer to home and into our own (immediate and extended) families, we all feel the angst that we could potentially infect a loved one. Compounding that angst is the stress, felt by care partners of people with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, who balance that apprehension 24/7, even as their loved one’s dementia continues to progress. Five UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST monthly