The Savvy Caregiver – Alzheimer’s

Are you a caregiver for a family member who has Alzheimer’s disease or another, related dementia? Does that person live at home? Are you looking for ways to increase your knowledge and confidence in this role? This program is designed for family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s who continue to live at home (not in a residential care setting). Classes meet for six consecutive weeks, for two hours each. Register today.

Are you a caregiver for a family member who has Alzheimer’s disease or another, related dementia? Does that person live at home? Are you looking for ways to increase your knowledge and confidence in this role?
What is the Savvy Caregiver?
This program is designed to equip family members and others for the caregiving role. Developed by the University of Minnesota, the classes will help you gain:
• A better understanding of the disease
• The skills to assess the abilities of the person with dementia
• The confidence to set and alter caregiving goals
• Strategies to manage the day-to-day care of the person with dementia, including personal care
• The skills to take better care of yourself
• Tips on how to build a positive partnership with healthcare professionals
Class information:
Savvy Caregiver is designed for family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s who continue to live at home (not in a residential care setting). Classes meet for six consecutive weeks, for two hours each.

Cost:
Classes are offered free of charge through an Alzheimer’s Disease Supportive Service Program (ADSSP) grant from the Administration for Community Living.

Upcoming classes:
Join us at one of our upcoming classes. Click below for more details.

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Scientists say National Alzheimer’s Plan research milestones must be strengthened

The U.S. government has initiated a major effort to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. However, a workgroup of nearly 40 Alzheimer’s researchers and scientists says the research milestones in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease must be broadened in scope, increased in scale and adequately funded in order to successfully achieve this goal.

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One family’s journey with Alzheimer’s

In our family, my grandmother Josie was the center. I have such great memories of our entire family arriving at my grandparents’ house to celebrate the simple joy of being together.
To this day I can still visualize the love and smell the wonderful aromas in my grandmother’s kitchen. As much as we developed, tweaked and eventually abandoned recipes, we’ve never been able to recreate her talent for cooking – Alzheimer’s disease stole this gift from us.
We didn’t expect these celebrations to end sooner than they should. Alzheimer’s disease crept quietly into these moments and eventually changed them forever. We lost Josie this year and the hole she left in our family can never be filled.
From donating to carrying a purple flower in this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s^®, my family recognizes the importance of giving back. Families like mine who are coping with this devastating disease turn to the Alzheimer’s Association for information, guidance and support. You can help the Association continue to provide these vital resources.
Every family has to take their own path on their Alzheimer’s journey, but the Alzheimer’s Association is here to make that journey easier. Your gift will help ensure that resources are there for families through those difficult times.

Please support their work by giving as generously as you can.

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Educational programs near you

The Greater Illinois Chapter offers community and family education programs throughout the year. These programs are geared for family members, diagnosed individuals, and interested members of the community. Many of these programs are free of charge, but some conferences and workshops do have a registration fee attached to them. Register today!

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People with Alzheimer’s disease may retain feelings they’ve forgotten

A new study suggests people with Alzheimer’s disease may keep feeling happy or sad even after they’ve forgotten why they felt that way. Researchers played movies for individuals with Alzheimer’s, and while a number of them forgot they had seen a film, their feelings remained

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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

A new study suggests people with Alzheimer’s may keep feeling happy or sad even after they’ve forgotten why they feel that way. Researchers played movies for patients, like “When Harry Met Sally” or “Sophie’s Choice.” Five minutes later, many people forgot that they had seen the movie, but their feelings remained.

Edmarie Guzman-Velez is one of the study’s authors. She’s at the University of Iowa and joins us from Iowa Public Radio. Welcome.

EDMARIE GUZMAN-VELEZ: Hi.

SHAPIRO: This is just one study. But if it’s findings bear out, what possibilities do you envision it opening up for treating Alzheimer’s patients?

GUZMAN-VELEZ: So the next step would be to focus interventions in inducing positive emotions and trying to decrease negative ones – music, dancing and so on.

SHAPIRO: So it’s making people who have Alzheimer’s feel better even if it’s not treating the underlying disease.

GUZMAN-VELEZ: Exactly. But right now, we don’t have any cure or way of preventing it. Therefore right now we’re trying to improve the quality of life of those who are already diagnosed with the disease.

SHAPIRO: I understand that in this experiment sad feelings lasted longer for people than the happy feelings did.

GUZMAN-VELEZ: Yes.

SHAPIRO: And what was that like to observe – people who felt some way without remembering why?

GUZMAN-VELEZ: It’s very interesting. And you would think in order to feel something you need to remember first. You know, all of these people that say it doesn’t matter if I don’t visit my grandma because she won’t remember -and it just shows it does matter. Our actions do matter.

SHAPIRO: You’re a young person, a graduate student at the University of Iowa. Why did you decide to study Alzheimer’s patients?

GUZMAN-VELEZ: I’ve only been very interested in memory. Right now I think about my life, and it’s all based on memories. And I cannot imagine living without remembering everything that’s happened to me. In addition to that, I’ve had some family members diagnosed with the disease, and that kind of gives me that extra motivation to learn more about interventions that can improve their quality of life – not only the patient’s quality of life, but their caregiver’s quality of life.

SHAPIRO: Does this study make you think differently about how you’ll interact with your family members who have Alzheimer’s?

GUZMAN-VELEZ: Of course, yes. And it gives me that extra reward I guess to know that every thing that I do is impacting them. And it does make me try to be a better person with them or try to give them good experiences ’cause I know that will make them happy and that happiness will last for a long time.

SHAPIRO: That’s Edmarie Guzman-Velez, author of a study on Alzheimer’s patients showing they feel emotions even after they have forgotten what made them feel happy or sad. Thanks so much for joining us.

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