Finding Long-Term Care for a Person with Alzheimer's Sometimes you can no longer care for a person with Alzheimer’s disease at home. The person may need around-the-clock care. Or, he or she may be incontinent, aggressive, or wander a lot. You may not be able to meet all of his or her needs at home anymore. When that happens, you may want to look for a long-term care facility for the person. You may feel guilty or upset about this decision, but moving the person to a facility may be the best thing to do. It will give you greater peace of mind knowing that the person is safe
and getting good care. Choosing the right place is a big decision. It’s hard to know where to start. The following overview of options, along with questions to ask and other resources, can help you get started. Residential Care Next Steps: Gathering Information How to Make Moving Day Easier Be an Advocate Click here for more information on the above.
Dementias Education and https://longtermcare.acl.gov/ Referral (ADEAR) Center Eldercare Locator 1-800-438-4380 (toll-free) 1-800-677-1116 (toll-free) adear@nia.nih.gov https://eldercare.acl.gov www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers Centers for Medicare & The National Institute on Medicaid Services Aging’s ADEAR Center offers 1-800-633-4227 (toll-free) information and free print 1-877-486-2048 (TTY/toll-free) publications about www.medicare.gov Alzheimer’s disease and Joint Commission related dementias for families, 1-630-792-5800 caregivers, and health www.jointcommission.org professionals. ADEAR Center National Center for staff answer telephone, email, Assisted Living and written requests and 1-202-842-4444 make referrals to local and www.ahcancal.org national resources. Argentum National Clearinghouse for 1-703-894-1805 For More Information About Long Term Care Information info@argentum.com Long-Term Care 1-202-619-0724 www.argentum.org and Alzheimer's aclinfo@acl.hhs.gov NIA Alzheimer’s and related
How Soon Is Soon Enough To Learn You Have Alzheimer’s? Jose Belardo of Lansing, Kan., spent most of his career in the U.S. Public Health Service. He worked on the front lines of disasters in such places as Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. At home with his three kids and wife, Elaine, he’d always been unfailingly reliable, so when he forgot their wedding anniversary two years in a row, they both started to worry. “We recognized something wasn’t right and pretty much attributed it to being overworked and tired,” Elaine said. But the symptoms grew. Last year, when Jose was 50, he got
an evaluation at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that included a battery of cognitive tests and an amyloid PET scan of his brain. The scan detects betaamyloid plaques — sticky clumps of protein fragments that tend to build up particularly in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease (though some healthy older adults have these plaques, too). Jose said his diagnosis of earlyonset Alzheimer’s disease came as an inconvenient shock. Still,
he and his wife said they believe it is better to have a diagnosis than not. Jose said he is determined not to let the shock of the diagnosis distract him from living a full life. “I’ve got responsibilities, man. I can’t go away,” Jose said. “I’ve got kids. I’ve got graduations coming up. I’ve got all this stuff coming up. I’m not going to let Alzheimer’s take that away from me. That’s for sure.” The prospect of having Alzheimer’s can be so scary, and the current treatment
options so few, that many people dismiss memory problems or other symptoms rather than investigate them, say Alzheimer’s specialists; it’s estimated that as many as half of all cases aren’t diagnosed. But that may soon change. Researchers are making progress in measuring betaamyloid and other Alzheimer’s biomarkers in blood that might eventually be able to reliably, inexpensively and noninvasively identify the disease years before cognitive symptoms develop. ...Read More
How To Save A Choking Senator: Heimlich Heirs, Red Cross Disagree On Technique Sen. Claire McCaskill (DMo.) found herself in a dangerous situation last month when she started choking during a Democratic members’ luncheon. Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) swooped in, grabbed her around the middle and squeezed her, performing the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food. Manchin’s act likely saved McCaskill’s life. But in
Washington, where no topic seems immune to controversy, Manchin’s use of the well-known technique has resurfaced a decades-old debate about whether to slap or squeeze. Phil and Janet Heimlich aim to end that controversy. The son and daughter of Dr. Henry Heimlich, who developed the
abdominal thrusts to stop choking more than four decades ago and died in 2016, are launching a campaign called “Hug, Don’t Hit” to raise awareness on how to use the maneuver. The duo is trying to put pressure on the American Red Cross, which trains 9 million people a year in lifesaving
techniques, according to its website. The Red Cross is one of several groups recommending that aid to choking victims should start with five slaps to the back followed by the Heimlich maneuver. The Heimlichs say those back blows could harm the choking victim by moving the lodged object farther down the windpipe and may waste valuable time….Read More
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