When Polly Shoemaker, RN, BSN, MBA, looks back on early 2016, she doesn’t know how she juggled everything. As director of clinical systems at Tulsa, OK-based St. John’s Hospital, Shoemaker already had a challenging job. But when her father’s esophageal cancer took a southward turn, she not only had to carry the logistical load of his care, but also keep up with work and family. “I don’t know how I did it, but I needed to and wanted to, so I did,” she says of her struggles as a sandwich generation caregiver.
'Minibrains' Could Help Drug Discovery For Zika And For Alzheimer's
Some tiny clusters of brain cells grown in a lab dish are making big news at this week's Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego.
Known as "minibrains," these rudimentary networks of cells are small enough to fit on the head of a pin, but already are providing researchers with insights into everything from early brain development to Down syndrome, Alzheimer's and Zika.
At a Sunday press conference at the neuroscience meeting, researchers said minibrains are helping them figure out how the Zika virus can disrupt human brain formation in the early stages of fetal development.
Alzheimer's patients test deep brain stimulation to help boost memory
Norma-Jean McLaren has been living with two electrodes implanted into her brain for almost a year.
“You can feel them, they’re like bumps,” said McLaren on a recent fall morning as she touched the top of her skull. She traced her hand down her neck, where there is a wire connecting the electrodes to a battery-powered neurostimulator in her chest. This device provides a steady stream of electrical impulses to a part of her brain that regulates memory.
40 Million Family Caregivers Deserve Our Thanks
November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time to recognize the 40 million Americans who take care of a loved one — helping them live independently at home where they want to be. What family caregivers do is extraordinary — adult children taking care of their parents, husbands and wives caring for their spouses, mothers and fathers caring for adult children. They deserve our gratitude and support throughout the year and most especially during this month when we traditionally give thanks.
The Cost of Family Caregiving: Out-of-Pocket Spending Surprisingly High
Our country's 40 million unpaid family caregivers devote a large portion of their own money toward the care of their loved ones.
They're spending an average of $6,954 a year — nearly 20 percent of their income — on out-of-pocket (OOP) costs related to caregiving, according to a new AARP study, "Family Caregiving and Out-of-Pocket Costs: 2016 Report."
Hispanic/Latino and low-income family caregivers spend even more: an average of 44 percent of their total annual income.
3 Controversial Decisions Alzheimer’s Caregivers Must Face
1. Should the Person Stop Driving?
2. Should the Person Be Placed in a Long-Term Care Facility?
3. Is It Okay to Stop Visiting When the Person Doesn’t Recognize You Anymore?
Daylight Saving Time Can Trigger Sundowning Behaviors
It’s almost that time again. On Sunday, November 6, Daylight Saving Time ends and we turn our clocks back. This can have a dramatic effect on those who are living with dementia and their loved ones.
I already suffer from sundowning and Daylight Saving Time always makes it worse. Everyone has an internal clock, and light plays a huge role in our sleep/wake cycles. Changes in natural light are part of why sundowning occurs in the first place, but messing with the timing and amounts of daylight we receive only complicates things further.
The future of senior care could be paying your friends and family
The aging of the US population is one of the big, quiet stories of the coming decades. By 2040, the US Census projects that the number of Americans 85 or older will more than double to 14.6 million, while the 65+ population will rise nearly 60 percent to 82.3 million.
Many older people will develop disabilities that mean they need help with daily tasks like dressing and bathing. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects jobs for home care workers who provide this kind of support to rise from around 2.5 million now to nearly 3.5 million by 2024. But many policy experts say it’s going to be hard to find workers to fill all those jobs.
Family Caregiving: The Hardest Thing I Ever Had To Do
A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—Families Caring for an Aging America—examines existing support for family caregivers like Ray, and recommends ways to provide more of the help they need. For me, this report reinforces what I not only hear every day but know firsthand: family caregivers need support. Whether caring for a parent, spouse or other loved one, helping them to live independently can be overwhelming, stressful and exhausting. But with some commonsense steps, we can make the big responsibilities of America’s 40 million family caregivers a little bit easier.
Why Alzheimer's fight must go on
Recent decades have seen an extraordinary shift in our expectations when we are confronted with what once were terminal illnesses.
With access to quality healthcare, HIV can now be managed for decades and many forms of cancer that were once death sentences are now treatable.
I decided to write this letter after seeing an Alzheimer's Association-produced video that challenged viewers to realize that, with the dedication and resources that have successfully turned the tables on other previously terminal illnesses, the first Alzheimer's disease survivor could be alive right now.
National Certification Board for Alzheimer and Aging Care (NCBAC™) Announces New Course for Family Caregivers
NCBAC's new course focuses on the challenges of family caregivers who have the responsibility of caring for a relative who is afflicted with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders. This new training is the latest in a series of courses which now include courses for home care for Alzheimers and training for those working in assisted living facilities.
5-year, $1.9 million study aims to improve resident, caregiver quality of life
Georgia State University Gerontology Institute researchers are in the middle of a five-year, $1.9 million study ultimately aiming to improve the quality of life for assisted living residents and their formal and informal caregivers. Eight Atlanta-area assisted living communities are part of the research.