The Professional Geriatric Care Manager’s Blog

On Friday the staff of Distinctive Care Geriatric Care Management attended the NJ Alzheimer’s Association annual confernce New Directions in Research and Care.  The conference was amazing and there were internationally renowned presenters speaking about the new developments in the field of Alzheimer’s Disease research.

I had the privilege of attending a panel discussion featuring two couples in which one of the partners had early stage dementia.  It was fascinating to hear them describe what prompted them to be evaluated for the disease and what life has been like since receiving the diagnosis.

One couple was older and they did not live together.  The woman and the gentleman’s daughter had noticed changes in his memory, mood and behaviors.  They in turn had informed his son who lived out of town and it was during a visit to his son that he was told about the changes they all had observed.  Upon his return home he made an appointment to have a complete evaluation conducted and received the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.  He is currently living alone and his girlfriend worries about him being alone in the house.  He is still driving but knows that in the future he will have to give up the keys to his car.  His family and friends have been very supportive and the medication seems to have slowed the progress.  His brother also has the disease and they talk about it often.  He and his girlfriend attend a support group for people with early stage Alzheimer’s Disease.

The other couple was a married couple in their early fifties.  The wife, age 52 had been diagnosed with early onset, early stage dementia and at this point she seems to have progressed to a moderate level.  She had been an executive with a major television network and is currently on permanent disability.  The couple have two daughters, age 13 and 11.  They are aware of their mother’s diagnosis.  The couple reported that she had initially been misdiagnosed as suffering from anxiety, but as her symptoms continued to worsen she went to a memory center for a complete work up and received the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.  They said the biggest issue for them currently is the feeling that they are all alone and have lost many of their friends.  The husband has been having a difficult time being the primary caregiver, care manager and working fulltime.  He reported that he is taking an antidepressant.  The girls see a therapist every other week and there currently is no support group available for them.

The biggest thing both couples stressed was the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.  They both indicated that it is much better to be able to deal with the known rather than to be wondering what was wrong and that taking the medication early had slowed the progression and kept them much more functional than they would be if they had waited to start treatment.

At Distinctive Care we know the importance of early diagnosis and treatment which is why we have developed our Cognitive Screening Program.  We offer this service at all three of our Bergen County offices and it helps Clients decide whether they should persue further testing, or if they are just experiencing mild age-related memory loss.  Please call (201) 857-5283 to learn more about this program.