June 5, 2018
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
The Alzheimer’s Association is encouraging families to talk about memory and cognition concerns and talk often, especially during June. What’s so great about June? It’s Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in the U.S.
The Communications Coordinator for the Oklahoma Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, Meredith Woodbridge says from experiences shared from people living with Alzheimers and their care-givers is that they encourage earlier conversations about the disease and its warning signs.
Woodbridge says Alzheimer’s awareness is crucial to everything her organization is trying to do.
To help people understand the early symptoms of Alzheimers or behaviors that merit discussion, her association offers the 10-warning signs. Woodbridge says should these signs appear, its important to talk about them with the person experiencing the symptoms and encourage them to speak with a medical professional.
And, she adds, one of the most important parts of Alzheimer’s awareness is getting an early diagnosis of the disease, unfortunately, 38% of people have said they’d wait until a family member showed symptoms before approaching them with concerns and one in three wouldn’t say anything despite their concerns.
Woodbridge says the best way to support a friend or a family member that is a caregiver to a person with Alzheimers is to urge the care-giver to take care of themselves, but best of all, give them a break, a respite, from their care-giving.
Woodbridge says there are many medical, financial, emotional and social benefits to receiving an early diagnosis including an accurate diagnosis, medical benefits, participation in clinical trials, planning for the future and emotional and social benefits.
She says the first thing an Alzheimer’s care-giver should do is to get help – make a phone call.
Woodbridge says the Alzheimer’s Association is offering a list of best practices for talking about the disease with someone who may be experiencing symptoms. She urges those who may be seeing signs in a loved one, to contact that association and ask for “6 Tips for Approaching Alzheimers.”
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