Alzheimer's care classes and their benefits

We don't forget.... Our heads may be small, but they are as full of memories as the sky may sometimes be full of swarming bees, thousands and thousands of memories, of smells, of places, of little things that happened to us and which came back, unexpectedly, to remind us who we are (Alexander McCall Smith)

The class that I would like to present to you is Alzheimer’s disease the lost days: Alzheimer’s disease and its effects on the elderly. A few years ago I was volunteering at a memory care facility and I noticed that there were caregivers taking care of a couple of elderly persons with Alzheimer’s disease. As they cared for them I noticed that they were at a loss of what to say or what to do. This saddened me enough to do something about it. The best way I found to contribute is to teach people how to care for Alzheimer’s residents with respect and dignity.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that affects the tissue of the brain. The disease process is caused by the development of plaques and tangles within the neuron bodies. These tangles cut off the circulation to brain tissue causing it to wither and die. Once the brain tissue is dead it is unable to regenerate causing memory loss to the affected area (Alz.org).

Alzheimer’s disease has been deemed the most common type of Dementia and the 5th leading cause of death of person 65 and older (Alz.org). In 2011 there are an estimated 5.4 million Americans of all ages suffering with Alzheimer’s disease the United States (Alz.org). Out of the 5.4 million, 5.2 are age 65 or older (1 in 8 persons) and 200,000 are younger than age 65 (Alz.org). Alzheimer’s disease can affect those that are young and old leaving caring families in its wake. According to Alz.org in 2110, 14.9 million families dealing with Alzheimer’s provided an estimated 17 billion hours of unpaid care an average of 21.9 hours of care per caregiver per week (Alz.org).

Offering this course online can give caregivers dealing with caring for their loved ones a way to not only alleviate some of their burden, but learning to care for them can help keep their loved ones out of nursing homes for an extra 1½ years but time is their enemy ("Alzheimer’s care class," 2007).

The objectives:   All attendees will be able to

1.       Explain the basics of Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia

2.       Explain the effects of social and physical environment on Alzheimer’s patients/ residents                    

3.       Discuss communication and behavior management techniques that will facilitate caregivers’ ability to employ best care techniques for Alzheimer’s residents.

4.       Describe importance of admission guidelines to Alzheimer’s units

5.       Explain and examine the process of investigating causes of difficult behaviors

6.       Support Alzheimer’s patients/ residents abilities to participate in meaningful activities

7.       Distinguish the family/ primary caregivers role and their fears, feelings, in their care For Alzheimer’s residents/patients

The attendees of the class will need a computer with the following:

1.       Internet or WIFI connectability

2.       Webcam for interaction with other attendees

3.       Course material will be presented via PowerPoint and online discussion and interactive video clips.

4.       An evaluation will be given at the end of the class for class participants