It seems like every time I turn on the news this month, there’s another story about someone with Alzheimer’s wandering off and getting lost. I don’t think microchipping people is the answer. Frankly, the thought of something electronic being inserted beneath my skin creeps me out. However, I do think we need to look into some ways to protect our loved ones from slipping out of the house and getting hurt or lost.
When someone lives near the water, on a steep hill, or right beside a busy highway, the risk of injury for an Alzheimer’s patient gets much higher. Even our best efforts aren’t always enough, especially after we lock the doors for the night, get into bed and fall asleep. If we don’t hear our loved ones getting up, unlocking the door and leaving the house, they can be missing for eight hours or more before their disappearance is discovered. A few tips for keeping them from reaching and opening the front door without awakening you:
- Put a baby monitor in the Alzheimer’s patient’s room. The noises he or she makes getting up and leaving the room will probably awaken you.
- Use an alarm system on your house. It doesn’t have to necessarily plug into emergency services. It just has to go off if someone opens a door that shouldn’t be opening in the middle of the night.
- Use additional security measures, such as childproof locks and back up alarms on doors leading to potential hazard areas, such as the pool.
Finally, consider buying one of the new GPS tracking units. They are small enough to tuck into a pocket and last for five to seven days before they need to be recharged and I’ve seen some nice ones for under $250. Make sure the Alzheimer’s patient is wearing a GPS unit before you go out and if he or she does slip away for a stroll, you will be able to discover the location in minutes.
Laura from Writing Thoughts blogged about how she became a work at home mom and how this transition enabled her to care for her father when he developed Alzheimer’s a year later. Working from home can be a wonderful option for caregivers and the person they are caring for.
A few examples:
* If you’ve had a rough night, you can often push your work schedule back or even take the day off altogether and decide to work on the weekend instead.
* You can take your loved one to doctor’s visits without running through your sick leave. (Although the downside of working from home is that you don’t have sick leave to run through!)
* You don’t have to put in an eight hour day dealing with stressful work politics, only to come home and put in a sixteen hour night of dealing with Alzheimer’s related problems.
There are also some negatives to working from home:
* You don’t get to get out and recharge your emotional batteries by working in another location.
* If you have a high paying job, you may be sacrificing a great salary and decent benefits for the chance to work from home at a lower salary with mediocre health insurance you had to buy yourself.
Do you have a story to share about working from home while caring for an Alzheimer’s patient? I’d love to hear it.
A survey conducted for Alzheimer’s Foundation of America found some troubling differences in the way different races deal with Alzheimer’s disease:
According to the survey released today, African-American and Hispanic caregivers surveyed were significantly more likely (37% versus 33%) than caregivers of other races (23%) to believe that Alzheimer’s disease is a normal part of the aging process.
Compounding the problem, African-American (70%) and Hispanic (67%) caregivers were also significantly more likely to dismiss the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease as old age than other respondents of other races (53%).
I was happy to hear that additional efforts are being made to reach these caregivers to educate them about Alzheimer’s. Although finding a cure for Alzheimer’s is incredibly important, a cure will not help people who aren’t diagnosed correctly.
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If you’re having nonessential surgery, you may want to ask you doctor to rethink inhaled anesthetics:
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine have discovered that common inhaled anesthetics increase the number of amyloid plaques in the brains of animals, which might accelerate the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
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One of the biggest concerns I hear from family members who are caregivers is that they themselves forgot where the car keys were yesterday, didn’t remember an appointment after a trying morning, etc. They are terrified that these lapses mean they now have Alzheimer’s, too. Hey, we all have forgetful moments and they don’t often mean that we are on the verge of developing Alzheimer’s. They mean we’re overwhelmed, exhausted and need some time to relax.
Remember, forgetfulness is only one sign of Alzheimer’s Disease. However, if you are so anxious about developing it that the worry is ruining your ability to enjoy your life, contact your doctor and ask for a medical opinion. Chances are, he’ll say you don’t have Alzheimer’s and you can chalk any forgetfulness up to being human.
