Those working on the front lines of the fight against Alzheimer's and dementia see an out-of-control truck veering toward the American population. And they're concerned that too few people seem to notice it.There are now 5.4 million Americans with Alzheimer's and estimates say that will double by the year 2050. Closer to home, there were about 20,000 diagnosed dementia patients in South Central Wisconsin in 2010, and that will jump by about 4,000 by 2025.
It's not just the people with dementia who are cause for concern. There's the question of who is going to take care of them.
Tracy Earll, executive officer of the Alzheimer's Association of South Central Wisconsin, said it takes an average of three people to care for one patient each day, "And it's a 36-hour-a-day job."
There are now 15 million unpaid caregivers, mostly family members, and twice that number will be needed by 2050 when baby boomers are in their last years. Equally ominous is dwindling government support to help families provide care.
"This situation could cripple the Medicare system," Earll said. "The drugs (to treat Alzheimer's) are not very good at all. If there's no cure in 20 years this will be extremely, impossibly expensive."
So while money for research is being chased, others are working to help the unpaid caregivers cope with the job they didn't sign up for, and are usually poorly equipped to handle. One such source is the Alzheimer's & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, which provides education and support from the beginning to the end of what they call "the journey."
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With Alzheimer's, Dementia on the Rise, More Family Members Step Up as Caregivers
3 comments:
Far better with family than under the awful control of an uncaring court-appointed guardian.
We cared for our mother at her home, then my home, until we could no longer bare up under the unbelieveble ravishes of dementia! We were lucky- there is a wonderful nursing home in our town, where mother was loved and cared for until her death just a couple of weeks ago. Someone told me once that dementia was called,
"the long good-bye", and that is certainly what it felt like. Except I'd add a few more adjectives in there, such as, torturous, sad, maddening. And that is for the patient, and the caregivers! RIP Mother! She is in heaven now, resting, and suffering no more!
That's right, Thelma. In some cases, of course, family is worse. But in the ovewhelming majority, everyone wants to be taken care of by their family and family steps up to the plate to do so.
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