Before we think about changing the face of Alzheimer’s disease, there needs to be a national awareness of how prevalent and deadly it has become.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1 out of eight seniors will have some type of dementia by the age of 65. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.
As common as the disease is, it doesn’t receive the same types of funding or attention that some of the other major illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes get.
Changing the Face of Alzheimer’s Disease – What Children and Adults Can Do to Help
Alzheimer’s needs more funding across the United States. The federal government needs to allocate more money towards the disease. As it now stands, most of the money comes through private funding, but it is inadequate to deal with the demand.
We must educate children and adults about Alzheimer’s disease, it’s very difficult to make many changes. Some people see it as just an elderly problem, and that is usually the case.
However, an elderly person’s illness is not worth less than someone who is younger?
With the illness, people become intimidated by those who are suffering. It’s true that some Alzheimer’s patients can go through stages where they can be verbally and physically abusive, but when people have the proper training, they can learn how to handle these types of sufferers.
Doctors have understood for a long time that one of the most powerful healing weapons available is a human touch. The strongest form of human touch comes with hug therapy.
For many seniors, that is all they need to brighten their day, or to get them talking and having more quality of life. Also, when seniors with Alzheimer’s connect emotionally with others through reading, singing, or teaching, it can have an immense effect on just about anyone with the disease.
Kids are our future. In addition to conditioning adults to have a more compassionate look at the disease, we also need to teach our kids how important a role they play with elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease.
For the most part, we tend to make them shy away from any senior citizen who has the disease. Instead, we need to show them that there is nothing to be afraid of and that they can help seniors with Alzheimer’s.
Changing the Face of Alzheimer’s Disease – Conclusion
It’s well documented that senior’s with Alzheimer’s enjoy interaction with others. The problem is; some adults write the elderly off as just being old.
They think that all they need is the help of a nurse’s aid or other caregiver for the rest of their lives. The reality is that they need all of us to provide the love and attention that they deserve.
Once we start giving seniors more of our time, they will begin to look forward to the days they meet with us. They will ask for us by name, and they will begin to live their lives again.
