Today the Obama Administration announced the release of the National Alzheimer’s Plan. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius reaffirmed our nation’s commitment to conquering Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, with a specific goal of finding effective ways to prevent and treat the disease by 2025.
For more information about the plan and to watch a short video from Maine’s own Dr Coleman, Click Here!
Posts Tagged ‘dementia’
Alzheimer’s Care: New Study Reports 1 in 7 People with Alzheimer’s Live Alone
Monday, May 7th, 2012One in seven people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in the US live alone, and many don’t have designated caregivers or near by family members to help them judge situations as their disease progresses. That’s 800,000 Americans who will eventually need more support with Alzheimer’s care.
Screenings of older adults to catch Alzheimer’s earlier is part of the first National Alzheimer’s Plan, due to be finalized this month. The plan also urges doctors to help patients plan ahead for their future care needs while they still can, a critical component to continued independence and control. Alzheimer’s care often consumes families who are called on later in the process.
This article from the Boston Herald newspaper quotes Maine Medical Center’s Dr. Laurel Coleman, geriatrician, as she talks about Alzheimer’s care needed for patients who struggle both with a dementia diagnosis and a lack of support.
Art and Alzheimers: new program fosters creativity
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012Studies have shown that art therapy might be particularly beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s disease because though they gradually lose the ability to express themselves with words, other parts of their brain that deal with colors and composition can still be used and developed. Even people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease can continue to create art.
Cape Memory Care in Cape Elizabeth recently started art classes in the Art is 4 Every1® method, developed by Elaine Griffith of Massachusetts during the nearly 25 years she taught at nursing homes, senior centers, kids camps and in her studio. It is a method that breaks the painting process into small steps, as tiny and as simplified as is needed according to the ability and experience of the student.
| Pat Moshimer, Maine’s only certified Art is 4 Every1 instructor, brings her program into Cape Memory Care in Cape Elizabeth every week. As Cape Memory Care residents, right, participate in the weekly Art is 4 Every1® class, they practice small motor control, visualization and perspective just as artists without memory impairment do. Pat has been a scribe and illustrator for 30 years in the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport area. |  |
Pat’s students remain remarkably creative and the painting program gives them an outlet for communication in a different and often very vibrant way. Is there an art show in the works? Will there be plein air classes as the weather improves? To find out more about this program, please call Olga Gross-Balzano or Bri Johnston at Cape Memory Care, 207-553-9616 or e-mail olgagross@woodlandsalf.com.
Alzheimer’s Epidemic
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012The Alzheimer’s Association has published their latest statistical findings on the grow of the disease in the US. They’ve made a very simple but powerful video that puts these numbers in perspective.
Maine is the oldest state in the Union, with an increasing number of people living with Alzheimer’s, and no cure in sight.
Eating for MS & Alzheimers: brain cell biology
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012We see daily articles about eating various high-protein/low-carb or low-fat/low-calorie or other permutations of diet that will make us thinner, healthier or better looking. Check out this video, in which a doctor talks about the hunter-gatherer diet that has mitigated many of the symptoms of her progressive MS. She makes a connection between MS and the other “braining shrinking” diseases like Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s, and suggests that her hunter-gatherer diet will help with cataracts and macular degeneration. It seems obvious that we would have better overall health if we supplied our bodies with all the right fuel. Dr. Terry Wahls makes a great case for “eating your vegetables!”
Alzheimers: family assistance in diagnosis, and increased federal funding
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center, has been on CBS and quoted in other news outlets recently for her assertion that family members should learn the symptoms and be asked to help in the Alzheimer’s diagnosis earlier in the disease.
For a doctor to ask someone with brewing dementia, “How are you?” isn’t enough, says Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center who is part of a federal advisory council tackling the issue.
“So often I hear, ‘The doctor only asks my mom how she is. She says fine and it’s over,’” says Coleman. “That’s not dementia-capable, or dementia-aware, primary care.”
Family input should be mandatory, she told a recent council meeting. It’s the only way to know if the person really is eating, taking her medicines as she claims, and not forgetting to turn off the stove.
Today, the Obama administration announced an additional $50 million for Alzheimer’s research over the coming months, and an additional $106 million in the coming year to research, caregiver support and education. This is an big step in the right direction to defeat this devastating disease.
Despite governmental wrangling on other issues, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act received bipartisan support and was enacted last January. Alzheimers and related dementias already cost our nation $183 billion a year, and with 10,000 baby boomers a day turn age 65there’s not a moment to spare in turning up the heat on research towards prevention and cure.
Step 1 is early diagnosis. The Alzheimer’s Association publishes a list of symptoms, and that’s a good place to start.
Bri Johnston, Healthcare Hero at Cape Memory Care in Cape Elizabeth
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Every year, the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) Hero Awards recognize individuals who are ideal representatives of the hundreds of thousands of people serving in senior living communities.
Cape Memory Care is honored to nominate Bri Johnston, PSS/CRMA, residential care assistant. Bri joined Cape Memory Care (Woodlands Assisted Living of Cape Elizabeth, LLC) when the facility first open its doors in November of 2010.
Bri exemplifies concern – for residents, their families and staff’s quality of life. As Bri says, about 40 times a day she asks herself, If that were my mother, how would I want her to be treated? “And she does just that!” shares Gloria C. the daughter of a resident. “On an initial tour of the facility she made us feel immediately at ease She gives us peace of mind knowing that our mother is taken care of here, at Cape Memory Care. Bri’s quick smile and enthusiasm have nudged my mom to involve herself in ways we could never get her to do!” writes Gloria.
What takes Bri to HERO heights is her thoughtful approach to communication. For example, one resident has a daily phone conversation with her daughter who lives out of state. Before transferring the call to the resident, Bri gives the daughter some glimpses of the resident’s day: things the resident did, discussions that she laughed about, helping the daughter to have a more meaningful talk and bring up good memories of the day.
Bri encourages people to do best they can for themselves. If there a group activity happening and they do not feel like participating, she offers a choice of another thing to do. She helps them choose the clothes they want to wear, a color of bedspread they’d rather have in the room. When Bri is involved, no resident is ever rushed to complete any task.
Staff members feel comfortable asking her “how to” – from changing a colostomy bag to redirecting a resident who is having a difficult moment.
Along with the professional example she sets in the workplace, Bri is also active in the community. In 2011 she organized and captained the CMC team for the Annual Memory Walk. She says she previously did not know much about Alzheimer’s, but seeing how the disease impacts CMC residents and their families, brought awareness of its devastating effects. She wants others to know what it is, and goes (literally) an extra mile (actually 3.2miles) to raise awareness and money for research and treatment. With her cheerleading, making posters, promoting “casual for cause” days, and recruiting a team, Cape Memory Cruisers raised over $700 to help the local Alzheimer’s association chapter. Bri is already planning improvements and goals for next year’s event.
Now, by being a hero, she is giving Cape Memory Care and Woodlands Assisted Living an opportunity to celebrate a caregiver like her, locally and nationally.
Virtual Dementia Tour: What’s it like to live with Alzheimers?
Saturday, January 14th, 2012Earlier this week, Ann Quinlan, a Senior Care Advisor at Beach Glass Transitions, attended a “Virtual Dementia Tour” at Sedgewood Commons Alzheimer’s Care, an Assisted Living Community for seniors with dementia, in Falmouth ME. Here Ann shares her thoughts on the experience:
“This was a profound experience and hard to put into words. As a seasoned care manager and educator in the arena of aging and dementia, entering that world this week as a participant in the Virtual Dementia Tour at Sedgewood Commons altered my perspective on numerous aspects of living with dementia and frailty. The facilitator had us enter a dark room wearing head phones feeding noise and chatter into our ears; we wore rubber gloves with several fingers bound in each hand and foggy glasses; we walked with simulated neuropathy in our feet. Suddenly the most simple of tasks became impossible to complete. This is what life is like for so many seniors in Maine and beyond.
I urge you all to seek out this kind of Virtual Dementia Tour experience. Become more sensitized to the needs of frail elders, even if you are not in a position of caregiving for them in your personal or professional lives. We all encounter elders in our daily activities – at the supermarket and in our neighborhood. Having a deeper understanding of their most basic limitations (especially if they have memory loss) is bound to widen your perspective on our aging friends and family members. And that is bound to make you a better community and family member.”
Want a taste of this experience? View this ABC News video of a Virtual Dementia Tour.
What is it like to have Alzheimer’s: A provocative discussion at Sedgewood Commons
Thursday, November 10th, 2011This special discussion series will start with a walk through virtual tour putting you in the shoes of a person with Alzheimer’s dementia.
You will see things, hear things, feel things, and your thought process will be challenged.
Sedgewood Commons wishes to extend this discussion series out to families, friends, caregivers, and work professionals to better understand what it is like for our loved ones who live with this disease on a minute to minute basis.
After the virtual tour you will sit down, discuss our thoughts, and Dr. Laurel Coleman will be here to answer questions. Please extend this to others if you think they would benefit. Space is very limited so please RSVP either by phone or email.
Sedgewood wishes you all a happy holiday season, the Dr. Laurel Coleman Discussion Series is taking a break for November and December as they realize we are all very busy these months.
National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month: free program and screening
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Are you concerned or curious about your own or a loved one’s level of memory loss? CHANS Home Health Care and the Mid Coast Senior Health Center are sponsoring free memory screenings Tuesday, November 15, from 9 a.m. – noon and from 1-3 p.m. at Thornton Hall Assisted Living, 53 Baribeau Drive in Brunswick. The screenings take only 10-15 minutes in a question and task format, but you must make an apointment. Call Debbie Siegel, RN, at 721-1372 to schedule your time.
On Monday, November 14, from 11 a.m. – noon, you’re invited to a free workshop on the 10 signs of Alzheimer’s, given by Laurie Trenholm, director of the Alzheimer’s Association, Maine Chapter. This is a great opportunity to learn about the importance of early detection and diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s. The free workshop is in the community room of the Mid Coast Senior Health Center at 58 Baribeau Drive in Brunswick. Call 373-3646 for more info.