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John: A diagnosis of Alzheimer's
disease can turn turn loved ones
into caregivers.
Each year more than 11 million
Americans look after family or
friends with Alzheimer's or
other forms of dementia, unpaid
and usually untrained.
Many devote their lives to the
task.
That lack of proper training can
affect their own health.
The C.D.C. Says these caregivers
have an elevated instance of
depression, weakened immune
system and early death.
Do we have to rethink our
approach to caring for people
with dementia?
>> Yeah, so if we gave it early
recognition of what we're
looking at it helps us get ready
for this transitionening and if
I then get a little bit of
training so that when somebody
says to me, I never talk to you
and it's like well, we just
talked 20 minutes ago.
If I'm trained to say oh, so
I've not talked to you lately it
tends to resolve in less stress
in the engagement and we're
better prepared to be in the
right place at the right time or
know when I need help, I need
greater amounts of training or I
need to switch places, I'm not
meant to be a hands-on person.
I can guide.
John: You talked about the
stress these caregivers may
feel.
Is there an effect on the
patient receiving care?
>> There is.
It turns out when caregivers are
stressed out, that stress
translates goo -- into greater
probability of a behavioral
reaction.
Lesser ability to connect and
communicate.
A greater possibility of an
attempt to -- which then
perpetuate the problem.
>> This is Jacqueline revere.
She's a tiktok creator and she's
posted content about her care
giving journey and she recently
told us about the emotional toll
she feels.
>> It was the moment that my mom
forgot that she was my mom and
so it broke my heart.
Caregivers need to feel sane.
Caregivers need support.
Caregivers need the social
system to support them also.
John: What would you say to her?
>> You're absolutely right
because the system as it exists
is not supporting the providers
of care for people living with
dementia.
About 70% to 80% of care given
is given by families, friends
and recollect unpaid individuals
and it results in social
isolation and a sense of
helplessness and that absolutely
is not reasonable.
John: Tell us about the training
that your company, positive
approach to care, offers.
>> We start off with fairly
simple ideas like how do brains
work and what can happen to
yours if we don't do some
retraining and then it's often
simple things like if the
person's visual field is getting
smaller and smaller then when
you want to interact, you want
to make sure you are aware they
can see you.
Recognizing that language
rhythms can be picked up but
language content is missed can
make a big difference so I want
to use a visual cue, not just
verbal information to share.
John: Are medical professionals
getting enough training with
Alzheimer's?
>> We are probably about 25
years behind where we need to be
in this moment of time.
Whether we're talking about
physicians or nurses or rehab
professionals, social workers.
It's seen as a side bar rather
than a major player in what
we're going to be experiencing
in this time periods, this next
generation as the baby boomers
are hitting the stride of
developing dementias at a high
rate.
>> A positive approach to care,
tipa snow.
Thank you very much.