Understanding the Wonders and Worries of Alzheimer's

While Alzheimer’s greatly impacts the physical and mental wellbeing of those affected, it’s also important to recognize it’s impact on the family and friends supporting them. Support groups, forums, and care giving guides can help in understanding how to cope with seeing their loved one change with the disease.

The primary responsibility of care giving for someone with Alzheimer’s will often times fall upon a sole family member. Remember - the responsibility does not have to fall on you alone. If you find yourself in this situation, write down a list of your responsibilities and see which ones you can hire someone else to do. Consider hiring a part-time caregiver to help with some of the cleaning, shopping, and maintenance. Reducing your task list can keep you from burning out quickly and will reduce the mental stress and clutter that comes with care giving responsibilities.
When you do have time for yourself, take that time to sleep, exercise, meditate, or write in a journal. Processing your experiences is extremely important to preserve mental health. Also be realistic with the capabilities of home care. Assisted living facilities are able to provide the 24-hour attention and care needed for those who are in Alzheimer’s early to mid stages.

Making sure family and friends understand the effects of Alzheimer’s is crucial to creating a supportive environment. Joining a support group can help affected families manage the stress from care giving and coping with the changes in their loved one.

Woodland Terrace in conjunction with Horizons Grief Center will be conducting “Wonders and Worries” - a six-week support group for children and teens who have a family member with Alzheimer’s or dementia related diagnosis. All Wonders & Worries services are provided by Certified Child Life Specialists and other counseling professionals who are specially trained to help children and their families.

The support group helps to:
• Giving an age-appropriate understanding of the illness, its treatments and side effects
• Facilitating expressions of feelings related to the changes in the family
• Identifying individual coping skills to help ease feelings of sadness, anger, and fear

“Wonder and Worries” first meeting is 6:30 – 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 26th. To join us and learn more call (919) 465-0356.