The Spectrum of Hope: An Optimistic and New Approach to Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias was written by neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi. She has been specializing in dementia and memory loss for over 20 years. With this book she changes the way we look at Alzheimer's disease by defining it as a spectrum disorder. She offers practical advice and wisdom for caregivers and anyone affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Read more about Dr. Gayatri Devi and her book
here. More than 6 million people in the United States live with various types of dementia, and these numbers are constantly growing. To commemorate it's 60th anniversary AARP is investing $60 million on the Dementia Discovery Fund, a fund the invests in research development for dementia treatments. The number of people living or caring for someone with this disease are increasing. It is estimated that in 2016, more than 18 billion hours of unpaid caregiving were provided to these people.
To learn more about this investment, visit AARP. To get certified as a caregiver in your state visit caregiverlist.com
Still Alice follows the story of Alice Howland, a renowned professor and mother of three. She is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's shortly after her 50th birthday and the film shows the hardships that come along with the diagnosis. The movie raises awareness for caregivers who care for Alzheimer's patients as we see her family struggle in this role and with her disease. It is a poignant story worth watching by any caregiver.
When it comes to understanding dementia and Alzheimer's disease, we can read about the various symptoms and glean together an understanding from people we know who dealt with them. However, it can still be difficult to piece together the thought patterns of someone with dementia as they navigate through their daily life. A new app called "A Walk Through Dementia" aims to bridge the gap between those living with dementia and those on the outside by giving a glimpse into the thoughts of a person with dementia.
The app focuses on creating a virtual reality experience for the user. Alzheimer's Research UK created the app after interviewing several people with dementia to understand how their symptoms affect their daily lives. The app features three different environments for the user to navigate through: at the supermarket, on the road and at home.
The app uses Google Cardboard virtual reality to immerse the user in the experience. For this reason, the app is available exclusively for Android, but the app creators put together a set of YouTube videos to help people without Androids experience the app as well.
Watching the YouTube videos, we see first-person the narrator walking down the street and encountering a decision point of which way to walk home. As the narrator walks, we hear her inner thoughts change from recognizing her surroundings to deciding to take an alleyway as a short cut. Then, we hear her realize it's not the right way home and increasing panic as she does not recognize her surroundings and cannot find her son.
As the walk continues, we realize further difficulties in perception as the narrator comes across a puddle, but her mind cannot correctly identify it. To her, it looks more like a gaping hole in the middle of the sidewalk, and only her son's confirmation helps her recognize that it's just a bit of water. We hear her attempt to cover put he fact that she thought it was something else, but from first person it lends us the recognition that she truly could not tell the difference.
This sort of first-person recognition will help caregivers better understand how senior clients with dementia experience the world around them. By having this app or these videos to watch, we can clearly see how to a person with dementia, a shallow puddle of water can look like a hole in the ground because of the brain's distortion of reality.
If your senior client has dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, talk to them about their experiences with the world. It can be difficult, but letting them know that you will listen and support them through these situations can only help them feel more comfortable about opening up about their dementia.
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discovers additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
-Paige Krzysko
Alzheimer's disease continues to impact us, with the most recent discussions around Super Bowl this week where the Denver Bronco's team owner will not be attending the game due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease. We still do not know how to cure Alzheimer's disease and the only way to get closer to both a prevention and cure for this disease is to study the brains and behaviors of those who both do and do not have the disease. The financial impact of caring for seniors with Alzheimer's disease already is in the billions of dollars, as both our public tax dollars, through Medicare and Medicaid, and private funds go towards caring for these seniors.
You can assist in finding a cure for this disease by spreading the word about the A4 study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, Eli Lilly and Company and several philanthropic organizations. The University of Southern California Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute is coordinating the A4 study and seeking participants who are NOT DIAGNOSED with Alzheimer's disease yet.
Senior caregivers and seniors can learn more about this study and join or refer a friend to join the study. Visit the website to learn more and find a location near you and just send an email to the contact to begin the application process. The eligibility requirements for this clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease are below.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Age 65 to 85 years old
- Healthy (Normal) Thinking Ability and Memory
- Study Partner with Minimum Weekly Contact with You to Answer Questions Annually
- Willing to Receive IV Infusions of Treatment or Placebo for 36 Months (36 Monthly Infusions)
- Agree to Have Health Monitored During Study
- Health monitoring includes memory and thinking tests, ECG's, PET scans, MRI scans, blood and urine tests
Non-Eligible Seniors:
- Already Receiving Treatment for Alzheimer's disease
- Current Diagnosis with Serious or Unstable Illness
- Reside in a Skilled Nursing Facility of Nursing Home
Caregivers assisting seniors with memory loss can take an online caregiver training course to learn more about positive ways to manage caregiving for memory loss diseases and learn about the various types of memory loss diseases.
A rare form of Alzheimer's disease is passed on via a faulty gene, which strikes much before retirement years. Chris Graham's father died when he was just 42 years old and his aunt passed away at age 38. His brother now lives in a nursing home, at the age of 43. Now, Chris knows he is carrying the faulty gene too and will develop Alzheimer's disease.
Chris has decided to make the most of his life now, and has began a 16,000 mile bike ride across the U.S.A. and Canada to fund raise for dementia research. He started the bike ride in April, 2015, after discovering he had the faulty gene in 2010. He has lost four relatives from this disease, all passing away in their 40's.
One of four kids, he knew he had a 50-50 chance of inheriting the gene. He and his brother did inherit the gene while his two sisters did not. You read Chris Graham's blog posts on Alzheimer's Research UK.
As the number of seniors with memory loss continues to increase, as more seniors are living longer, having more professional senior caregivers has become a concern. Learn about how you can become a part-time or full-time caregiver or refer-a-friend to a caregiving job.
Working with senior clients affected by Alzheimer's disease and dementia can be very trying for senior caregivers and the families of their senior clients. Coro Health developed an app based around music streaming as a source of calming therapy. The programs within the app are split into to distinct categories- supportive music and sundowning therapy.
The supportive music category has subcategories called energy, relax and sleep. Once users select the mood category, they can choose a genre of music from classical, country, instrumental, pop, etc. The app features popular songs that senior clients or caregivers may know, such as Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles. The segments are organized into program lengths of about an hour, to prepare senior clients to energize for a day or give them time to wind down and relax or fall asleep.
The sundowning therapy category can be useful to minimize behaviors such as mood swings, agitation and paranoia that stem from confusion felt by senior clients during the evening. This category features an hour long program and a program that lasts almost two and a half hours. Unlike the supportive category, no further genre choices exist because the programs are designed specifically to calm seniors experiencing sundown syndrome.
The streaming service is available for a monthly fee of $4.99, but the first three hours of streaming through the app are free so caregivers and their senior clients can try the service before they subscribe.
The Music First app is available for free for Apple platforms.
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discover additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
-Paige Krzysko
Caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients or those with dementia or memory loss deal with a special set of caregiving needs. That’s something that our friends at The Alzheimer’s Store know all too well. They’ve made it their mission to bring to the senior care market a variety of products to make caring for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia easier and make the Alzheimer’s years just a little more safe and comfortable. Here, they discuss a popular product that makes life easier.
It’s Easier Than Ever to Celebrate Time with Loved Ones
Time is so precious. We often take it for granted. That at the fact that we’re naturally aware of the day and time or can easily find out at any given moment. It’s not so easy for Alzheimer’s patients. Caregivers and family members of those with Alzheimer’s are very familiar with the questions: “What time is it?” and “What day is it?” It can be taxing on both you and them.
Since our goal at The Alzheimer’s Store (ALZSTORE.COM) is to help ease the stress in caring for loved ones, we feature a wall clock that is large enough for Alzheimer’s patients to see from all areas of the room. Knowing the day and time reassures the patient and puts them more at ease, which in turn relieves stress for both caregivers and family members.
This high quality precision clock displays the time, day of the week and date clearly and automatically. It has a sweeping hand, as Alzheimer’s patients do not recognize digital, and a large day date and month. Both at home and in facilities, those who struggle with Alzheimer’s can take pride and comfort in knowing the correct day and date with this excellent reminder.
Wall Clock with Day & Date
We know caring for someone you love with this disease can be a roller coaster of emotions. Alzheimer’s affects more than five million people worldwide and is the nation’s sixth-leading cause of death. In fact, my grandfather George was inspiration behind our dedication and commitment to helping others with Alzheimer’s. Nothing gives us more satisfaction that helping others care for loved ones; it helps us honor our grandfather’s memory.
We can’t say enough about the positive feedback we’ve been getting on this top-selling product. The Alzheimer's Store's continuously searches to offer quality products at the most affordable rate and we have not been able to find a more reliable timepiece. If you’ve purchased the clock or plan to, we’d love to hear your feedback! Email us and share your story at brittany@alzstore.com.
Senior caregivers may also find online caregiver training and apply for a senior caregiving job near them, as more companion caregivers are always needed to assist seniors with memory loss.
Exercising the mind contributes to healthy aging just as much as regular physical activity. Senior caregivers can help their clients keep their minds sharp by picking up a new habit or hobby that engages the mind. Something as simple as doing a crossword puzzle or playing a basic game helps keep the brain active. The smartphone app Binaural Brain Game combines brain exercise for Alzheimer's prevention with the need to relieve stress and relax.
The games feature an icon that the user moves around the surface of the screen to collect crystals whilst avoiding spinning colored wheels. The motions in the game help keep the mind sharp whilst doing something seemingly almost mindless. Once the user collects their first 1,000 crystals in the first game, they can unlock the second game in the app. There are five different games total that the user can unlock by gathering more crystals in a lower level. Mental stimulation is key in Alzheimer's prevention, along with physical diet, exercise and social connections, as outlined by the Alzheimer's Association.
Senior caregivers can benefit from the app as well as it plays tranquil music during games to help calm and soothe the user. After a long day as a caregiver, come home and play the game for a few minutes to clear your head from the day and put you in a good headspace to relax for the rest of the night.
The app is available for free for Apple users. There is also a paid version free of advertisements.
Name: Binaural Brain Game: Relaxation Therapy for Stress, Insomnia & Alzheimer's
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discover additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help to relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
-Paige Krzysko
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative auctions 27 quilts online each month. Quilts range in size-- 9' x 12' and smaller. Please take some time to view the July quilts for auction the 1st through the 10th. All proceeds from the auction fund Alzheimer's research.
Read more on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.
Please look at a few of the quilts for auction below.
Review all July 2013 quilts here.
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $916,000 since January 2006. Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer's.