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Assisting Alzheimer's
Caregivers Online
Newswise — It is estimated that Alzheimer's
disease affects 5.3 million Americans and
that number is expected to double by 2050.
Caregivers shoulder a particularly heavy
burden as the illness alters the dementia
patient's behavior, mood and judgment,
impeding his or her ability to engage in
normal, everyday activities.
In response to this mounting public health challenge,
experts at Weill Cornell Medical College
have spent four years creating
ThisCaringHome.org, an interactive,
multimedia Web site for caregivers of
Alzheimer's and other dementia patients.
The Web site, which received the 2009 e-Healthcare
Leadership Award, helps caregivers learn
strategies to better care for people with
dementia, especially how to adapt the home
environment to meet the behavioral and
physical needs of people with Alzheimer's.
Created by Rosemary Bakker, M.S., A.S.I.D.,
research associate in gerontologic design in
medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and
Gerontology at Weill Cornell Medical
College, the site features videos,
animations and photographs, as well as
expert reviews of home furnishings and smart
technologies. Ms. Bakker, a former caregiver
to her mother, has put her first-hand
knowledge to use in the creation of this Web
site.
"Persons with dementia and their caregivers
deserve better lives and more help with the
everyday challenges they face," Ms. Bakker
says. "When I was a caregiver, I learned
that people with Alzheimer's experience the
world differently than we do. Once you
understand this, there is a lot caregivers
can do, especially to the home environment,
to help the person lead a safer, more
functional and fulfilling life. And it makes
caregiving less difficult and more
rewarding. But without guidance, it's easy
to get overwhelmed."
While much has been written about
Alzheimer's, this graphics-rich interactive
Web site shows how best to adapt a home for
persons with Alzheimer's disease and related
disorders, enhancing the individual's safety
and independence. The 3-D animations, videos
and written content illustrate the complex
process of changing the home to match the
stage of the patient's disease. A social
networking component enables caregivers to
share information, ask questions, and find
support from the online caregiver community.
The Web site takes visitors on a "virtual"
visit through every room of a house,
demonstrating in detail how to deal with
issues that might arise in the kitchen,
bathroom, living room and bedroom. Best
practices for safe bathing, how to install
stove turn-off devices and timers, what
lighting is necessary to soothe an agitated
person, and what to look for in a door
monitoring device, among many other
subjects, are addressed.
Other sections include tips for reducing
agitated behaviors and improving quality of
life for those with dementia, such as
playing favorite old songs, receiving an
aromatherapy massage, and playing with a
docile pet.
While
ThisCaringHome.org is geared toward
family caregivers, it is also invaluable for
physicians, nurses, hospital discharge
planners, social workers and assisted-living
facility managers, all of whom must
increasingly deal with dementia and memory
loss among their patients.
"ThisCaringHome.org
covers every conceivable subject that may
arise for the person caring for the dementia
patient," says Dr. Ron Adelman, professor of
medicine co-chief of the Division of
Geriatrics and Gerontology at Weill Cornell
Medical College and director of the
Irving Sherwood Wright Center on Aging
at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill
Cornell Medical College. "So often the
caregiver feels that he or she is alone or
that no one has encountered their particular
problem before. The interactive nature of
this site, and the very fact that it's
visually engaging and easy to navigate,
draws people into an extremely informative,
online community that can help ease some of
the caregiver burden."
Funds to create the Web site were provided
by grants from several foundations,
including the Alzheimer's Association, Helen
Bader Foundation, NEC Foundation, Retirement
Research Foundation, and the Wallerstein
Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement.
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