Alzheimer’s awareness increases value in caregiving process

Awareness about Alzheimer’s disease continues to increase, and reminders to be on the lookout for signs in older loved ones never have better timing than with family get-togethers at this time of year.

The effects of the malady on the documented farewell on stage from singer Glen Campbell, and the late Ronald Reagan in his post presidency retirement, have given more than glimpses to the general public about how coping affects a person’s whole family.

S. Taylor Wilson, director of communications and advocacy for the Alzheimer’s Association S.C. Chapter, based in Columbia, brought up former S.C. Gov. Carroll Campbell dealing with Alzheimer’s until his death Dec. 7, 2005.

“His family really brought respite care to the forefront of this illness,” Wilson said, “and advocated for serious funding to help other families facing this disease. He is a local figure who left a lasting legacy related to this disease, much like Glen Campbell and Ronald Reagan have.”

Natalie Bankowski, an Alzheimer’s Association program director based in Myrtle Beach and covering six counties – Horry, Georgetown, Dillon, Florence, Marion and Williamsburg – saw its effects on three of her forebears, including her mother-in-law. She stressed seeking medical consultation after any of the 10 telltale signs emerge in a loved one, such as memory loss that disrupts daily life, confusion with time or place, or misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.

“It’s so important to get early detection,” Bankowski said, “and to understand the differences between what’s a normal part of aging and what is cause for concerts and things that cause the same symptoms.”

Helping a relative or friend cope with Alzheimer’s “doesn’t have to a depressing” experience, Bankowski said, stressing some easy expressions of love, such as “a gentle touch of the hand,” because even if such a person doesn’t lose his or her mobility, he or she might not be able to convey their feelings. That’s where some “sweet tenderness” can help “light up” the person’s face.

Bankowski stressed that the earlier someone with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia is diagnosed, the better chance the individual also might have for possible trial for related medication, which sometimes might prove of value in treatment, as research for a cure continues.

Immersed in this Alzheimer’s outreach for the past five years, Bankowski talked of the need to “lessen the stigma” for a condition that is not contagious, and such aforementioned public figures’ families talking openly about those experiences assists in that continuing effort.

“It isn’t a choice to get this disease,” Bankowski said. “Just like, no one chooses to have cancer.”

She spoke of hearing from individuals who learn of their Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but “they won’t tell anyone, and they don’t want their family members to know.”

That’s where staying more thoroughly connected with kin, even at long distances that limit ion-person contact, magnifies itself in importance. Bankowski said conversing with “Mom by phone once a week,” that parent might “carry on a pretty normal conversation” – “and work very hard at” concealing anything wrong – without the other person detecting any memory problem, “meanwhile she has put a frying pan in the freezer and socks in the dishwasher.”

Know 10 signs for possible problems

Bankowski emphasized “one of our most popular programs,” with knowing those 10 signs, which also include trouble with understanding visual images and spatial relationships, and new problems with words in speaking or writing.

For someone concerned, asking how many signs that need to prevail, Bankowski said “it’s not a number of signs,” but amid one or more, to encourage the affected person to “go to a doctor and have a thorough physical and evaluation.” She said the individual’s everyday standing might be thrown off by a urinary tract infection, thyroid problems, or complications from interaction and use of medications.

“Many things can cause the same symptoms,” Bankowski said. “People also don’t walk to talk with the doctor about it, because they don’t want that diagnosis.”

That reaction is understood, she said, but with knowing the matter at hand, coping with it helps everyone involved, because on a larger scale, “it’s a normal part of aging.”

“The brain ages right along with the rest of our body,” Bankowski said, citing the heart, skin, and other organs that wear with time, “and people don’t realize that.”

Again, giving that “personal touch” comes to play, she said, understanding and empathizing with “how devastating” an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can produce, but sharing in the compassion and care can help a family work through, and “understand the reality of,” the situation.

“All of us have to work together on that,” Bankowski said, reminding everyone that withdrawing and not speaking to someone affected by Alzheimer’s also can hurt the immediate attending family, because “now the patient is isolated as well as the caregiver.”

With the free education, support groups and outreach available from the Alzheimer’s Association, and helping dispel “myths” about the disease, the support and encouragement for someone with Alzheimer’s will help that whole family and community circle for that person, Bankowski said. Reach her at 843-213-1516, and load up on information at www.alz.org/sc.

It’s all the more reason for friends to stay connected, and neighbors to keep coming around, to help such a person, Bankowski said, at this time of year and all year ’round.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Alzheimer’s awareness increases value in caregiving process."