Care Agencies: Support for Families of Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Alzheimer's Disease is a distressing and profoundly disturbing illness that attacks some senior citizens and causes huge psychological, emotional, financial and physical damage to the patient. Severe memory loss and inability to function normally, conduct their day-to-day activities and engage socially as they used to previously are some of the features noted in the illness. In later stages, loss of control over body-functions, emotional breakdown and finally coma and death are the features commonly noted.

In such a situation, the burden of care-giving is usually taken on by a spouse, child or close relative of the patient. However, the nature of the illness and the enormous effort it takes to care for a patient can extract huge costs on the care-giver and the entire family. Such care-givers and families may require support and constant counseling to keep their spirits up and allow them to continue to care for their loved one.

Another aspect is that Alzheimer's is incurable and only the symptoms can be addressed, while patient management becomes the most critical aspect of care-giving. Hence, if required, the services of a trained professional care-giver may also be considered to avoid the phenomenon of "care-giver burn-out" among the family and relatives of the patient. Care includes constant contact with doctors, financial and legal aspects, planning for the future and ensuring that the patient lives and dies with dignity and respect.

There are hundreds of professional agencies that offer the services of experienced and expert care-givers who are trained specifically in caring for Alzheimer's patients. Most large towns have support groups and care-giver counseling, information centers, care-giver locators, home-care services, meal services, respite or short-term care, live-in helpers, adult day-care, geriatric care management, counseling and hospice services.

Additionally, there are many government and state funded programs that offer financial and other support to care-givers. In the US, the PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) offers a combination of medical insurance, social services and long-term care costs for Alzheimer's patients and their families.

Often Alzheimer's can strike people younger than 65, and in such instances, social security benefits like a Disability Income are also available from the government. There are several insurance programs designed for these patients, as well as many private groups, NGOs and neighborhood care programs available for various kinds of support.

It is essential to remember that the type of care required keeps changing as the illness progresses, hence the nature of care and the types of efforts involved could be different at each stage. Constant contact with your family doctor, education and information gathering are all important to keep yourself up-dated about the latest development in Alzheimer's research.