A recent article in the New York Times reveals the grave impact Alzheimer’s disease can have on entire families. It took a close look at this family where children of an older woman were losing their memories through early onset Alzheimer’s, most of them who were in their 40′s. While the article focused closely on a single family, it also revealed how magnified the effect of the disease can be when we think about its growth rate over the next 20-30 years.
Solutions to the worsening problem for individuals and families
That said, the Times actually took a smart step forward, discussing possible solutions rather than ponder over the problem far too much. They interviewed several experts who understand the impact of the disease and have a perspective on how we can implement new strategies to face it. These experts understand that reforming and improving caregiving is key to helping us face this disease over the near term. Some of the highlights of their interviews are as below:
1. We need to help the caregivers
Caregiving for Alzheimer’s sufferers takes a long time and demands a lot from the caregiver. Because of the challenging responsibilities, it is usually a family member that takes the initiative of caring for the affected person. Also, since Alzheimer’s care is viewed as a social service effort, rarely do we find focused efforts to provide administered/professional care for affected individuals. While developed countries do provide senior care centers, we might not be arming ourselves for having enough resources to cope up with the increasing number of people suffering from the disease. It is therefore important for us to rethink how we can manage caregiving efforts.
2. We need to implement government-enabled programs for coordinating caregiving
The government can actively participate in championing caregiving efforts to Alzheimer’s sufferers. For example, the recent healthcare reform act has put into action the CLASS act that provides patients with the funds to hire a caregiver for their needs (more details here).
3. We need to Estimate, Plan and Coordinate caregiving effort
Many experts have suggested that preventive care might be the best method for dealing with the Alzheimer’s challenge. However, this is very difficult as we don’t understand the mechanisms by which the disease is caused and how it progresses over time.Therefore, the next option is to smartly estimate, plan, and coordinate the caregiving effort. This is possibly the most challenging project if taken up, but if implemented, this could provide us scientific data on the deployment and success of caregiving effort.
Alzheimer’s is becoming a growing public health problem
As the Times notes from the Alzheimer’s Association study, the disease is afflicting 5.3 million Americans and 30 million people worldwide. These numbers are set to double or triple by 2050. If you really think about it, no matter how slow this disease progresses, its numbers are increasing pretty rapidly. The medical and social natures of this disease make it as much a public health problem as it is a tragic family medical situation.
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