The Alzheimer’s Association Iowa Chapter is raising awareness of adults who get lost during the holidays.
The group holds educational seminars online, this month and next, focusing on topics for families struggling with all forms of dementia. The series teaches people how to identify symptoms of dementia by decoding behavioral messages the affected person displays, noticing common behavior triggers, and learning strategies to help intervene in some of the most common behavioral challenges of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Iowa Chapter’s Jessica Duncan says caregivers notice more people with Alzheimer’s ‘wandering’ during the holidays – leaving the house without anyone’s knowledge, for example…
More than six-million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, including an estimated 66-thousand in Iowa. Registration for the educational series is online, at www.alz.org/Iowa. Click on “Programs Event Calendar.”
Duncan says the workshops are designed to help family members learn specific facts about the disease. It should equip them to sort out the various opinions and hearsay about what happens to people with dementia, and the toll Alzheimer’s can take on family members.
More than 11-million family members and friends serve as caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s, including 98-thousand caregivers in Iowa.
(credit to Iowa News Service)
