Monthly Archives: May 2017

Go the distance with ALZ Stars Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers Posted on May 10, 2017

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Go the distance with ALZ Stars Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers Posted on May 10, 2017

We’re making moves to end Alzheimer’s disease one step at a time while we raise awareness and funds in support of the Alzheimer’s Association! When you join ALZ Stars, you’ll become part of a team that is passionate about finding a cure and making a difference in the lives of Alzheimer’s patients and their caretakers. Most importantly, you’ll have the camaraderie of a team striving for the same vision – a world without Alzheimer’s.

Join ALZ Stars Today
Because The First Survivor Is Out There

Go the distance with ALZ Stars! We’re making moves to end Alzheimer’s Disease one step at a time while we raise awareness and funds to benefit the research, care and support of the Alzheimer’s Association. When you join ALZ Stars, you’ll become part of a team that is passionate about finding a cure and making a difference in the lives of Alzheimer’s patients and their caretakers. You’ll also receive benefits such as fundraising and training support, opportunities for group runs and social activities, event apparel, fundraising incentives and event weekend activities. Most importantly, there is no better benefit than the camaraderie of a team that is striving for the same vision – a world without Alzheimer’s.

ALZ STARS EVENTS

Please note that ALZ Stars registration is separate from event registration. ALZ Stars does not cover event registration.

OCTOBER 8, 2017
CHICAGO, IL

ALZ stars has filled our allotted guaranteed entries for 2017.

If you have your own entry (via lottery, legacy or time qualifier) we would love for you to join us!

Learn More – Join The Team

 

SAVE THE DATE
MARCH 25, 2018
CHICAGO, IL
Let’s shuffle to END ALZ!

Click here for 2016 results

Learn More – Join The Team

ALZ Stars are athletes everywhere, moving to END Alzheimer’s disease, all while raising funds and awareness.

Step 1: Join ALZ Stars
By joining ALZ Stars, you are joining athletes everywhere moving to end Alzheimer’s disease.

Step 2: Choose Your Challenge
Once you’ve joined the team, you can register for ANY event, such as a 5k race, triathlon, bicycle ride. etc to participate.

Step 3: Do your part to END ALZ
Personalize and share your fundraising page with everyone you know and help raise the much needed funds to find the first survivor of Alzheimer’s disease.

Learn More – Join The Team

MEDIA
Sponsorship

For more information about sponsorship opportunities please contact Sharri Scott, Manager, Athletic Events at 847.324.0378 or sscott@alz.org

Volunteer

Are you interested in volunteering with ALZ Stars? Click here to fill out our volunteer application and select ALZ Stars as your area of interest.

Alzheimer’s Association leads the way to historic research funding increase – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

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Alzheimer’s Association leads the way to historic research funding increase – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

Last week, a $400 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding was signed into law, increasing federal funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to nearly $1.4 billion. After years of stagnant funding, this is the second year in a row the Alzheimer’s Association request for historic funding increases has been acted on by our federal leaders. The Association, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) and its nationwide network of advocates applaud Congress for hearing their call and taking action in the fight to end Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement lead the way to $400 million federal research increase

The Alzheimer’s Association, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) and its nationwide network of advocates applaud Congress for hearing their call and taking action in the fight to end Alzheimer’s. Today, a $400 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding was signed into law, increasing federal funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to nearly $1.4 billion. After years of stagnant funding, this is the second year in a row the Alzheimer’s Association request for historic funding increases has been acted on by our federal leaders.

“The Alzheimer’s Association and our sister organization, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, represent millions of families facing Alzheimer’s disease, and we know firsthand the importance of investing in research to advance faster against this deadly disease,” said Harry Johns, Alzheimer’s Association and AIM president and CEO. “This is the latest in a series of policy victories in the fight to end Alzheimer’s, but more work remains. As the leading voice for those affected by the disease, the Alzheimer’s Association, AIM and our advocates will continue to work with Congress to ensure continued bipartisan support for urgently needed research funding increases and access to necessary care and support services.”

Today, there are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, the only leading cause of death that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. An additional 15 million Americans serve as unpaid caregivers for individuals living with the disease.

Already the nation’s most expensive disease — at a cost of $259 billion in 2017 — the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that by mid-century the number of people with the disease is set to nearly triple, and the costs of Alzheimer’s are projected to more than quadruple to $1.1 trillion. Today, funding for Alzheimer’s research at the NIH is under $1.4 billion per year. Leading experts have said a greater investment is still needed if we are to stay on the path to preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025.

Demonstrating the urgency of this crisis, the NIH Professional Judgment Budget commissioned by Congress has already recommended a $414 million increase in spending on Alzheimer’s disease research for fiscal year 2018.

The Alzheimer’s Association International Research Grant Program, through philanthropic support, has committed over $385 million to more than 2,500 best-of-field grant proposals, leading to field-changing advances. According to Thomson Reuters InCites (formerly Web of Science), the Alzheimer’s Association ranks as the highest impact nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s disease research in the world, ranking in overall impact behind only the Chinese and United States governments.

Alzheimer’s Association®
The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. For more information, visit alz.org.

Alzheimer’s Impact Movement
The Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization working in strategic partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association. AIM advocates for policies to overcome Alzheimer’s disease, including increased investment in research, improved care and support, and development of approaches to reduce the risk of developing dementia. For more information, visit alzimpact.org.

Contact: Alzheimer’s Association
Media line: 312.335.4078
Email: media@alz.org

Mother’s Day as a daughter of – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

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Mother’s Day as a daughter of  – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

“Last year, I gave birth to a baby of my own. Just four days later, I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. I cried and cried, mostly because for the first time I understood the power of a mother’s love for her child. I really miss my mom, and I hope and pray that my baby never sees his mother brought down by Alzheimer’s.”

I grew up with a strong sense of occasion. In our house, we commemorated not just our birthdays, but our birthday weeks and half-birthdays; not just the anniversary of my parents’ wedding, but also the anniversary of the day they met; all 12 days of Christmas and academic achievements, however minor, were equal cause for celebration. In each case, it was my mom who went out of her way to make these days special, which makes it all the more strange that I don’t have any special memories of Mother’s Day from my childhood. I don’t think this is a poignant commentary on my mom’s selflessness– my parents’ birthdays were as hyped as mine and my sister’s–but a strange omission. In early adulthood, I always sent my mom flowers or called – some gesture to acknowledge the day – but it always felt like more of a Hallmark event than one that truly mattered.

Mother’s Day hits harder now. Six years ago, my mom woke up in a hotel in Chicago where she had stayed visiting me many times before and didn’t know where she was. Over the next year and a half my sister and I made cross-country visits to get her to doctor’s appointments and diagnostic tests. In late 2012, at the age of 63, my mom was diagnosed with progressive dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. We moved her first into an assisted living facility where she put on a brave face, but I later found her crying. I said, “I’m sorry, Mommy, but we think it will help,” and she responded, through her tears, “But it’s not the same as being a whole person.” Later, we moved her into a memory care facility where every resident has Alzheimer’s or a related dementia and the staff is equipped to help. Each year it makes less sense to send my mom anything for Mother’s Day, especially since she doesn’t recognize it as different from any other.

My mom was brilliant with a fierce independent streak. She has a Ph.D. and was widely published in her field. She was a beloved professor and mentor for 30-odd years before Alzheimer’s took it all away. I sometimes get phone calls and emails from former students and other academics she collaborated with who reach out to connect with her. When I tell them about her condition, they, like I, cannot believe that the vibrant, vocal, opinionated person they once knew can now not even form a sentence or feed herself. Who she is now cannot recall who she once was. It’s unfair to even call her a shell of her former self.

On Mother’s Day in 2015, the first year she felt fully gone, I went to see a stage production of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The movie version was a favorite with our whole family, and the book was a shared favorite for both my mom and me. My mom instilled in me a love of reading and the power of words from my earliest days. The books she loved became the ones I loved too, so it was not uncommon to have a shared favorite. Sense and Sensibility seemed particularly poignant, as it is the story of a widowed mother and her daughters. The serendipity of having it staged nearby on Mother’s Day seemed the perfect way to celebrate. Unfortunately in this particular production the characters of the mother and the daughter named Margaret were both written out. I felt the loss anew.

Last year, I gave birth to a baby of my own. Just four days later, I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. I cried and cried, mostly because for the first time I understood the power of a mother’s love for her child. I really miss my mom, and I hope and pray that my baby never sees his mother brought down by Alzheimer’s. There are so many things about my mom that I hope to replicate as a parent. I want to give my child unconditional love and the encouragement to be a strong, independent, and loving person – and of course, a sense of occasion.

As a daughter of Alzheimer’s and as a mother to the next generation, I now find Mother’s Day to be another reminder of the importance of working to end Alzheimer’s. There will be no greater occasion than the day we succeed.

“Criminal Minds” cast supports The Longest Day – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

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“Criminal Minds” cast supports The Longest Day  – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

Cast members from the CBS show “Criminal Minds” participated in a video message inviting viewers to take part in The Longest Day®. On June 21, the summer solstice, team up with the Alzheimer’s Association and select any activity you love — or an activity loved by those affected — to help end Alzheimer’s.

Self-Driving Cars Could Be Boon for Aged, After Initial Hurdles – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

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Self-Driving Cars Could Be Boon for Aged, After Initial Hurdles – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Caregivers

Nearly 16 million people 65 and older live in communities where public transportation is poor or nonexistent. That number is expected to grow rapidly as baby boomers remain outside of cities.