I spent today at an all day Alzheimer’s meeting, taking notes and tweeting. I am also exhausted. Many of you know that this is my 23rd consecutive day blogging here. There are a lot of pluses to posting every day, but on a night like this, where I have been focusing all day on new, often dense material, I run the risk of being incoherent.
Here are some issues that are related to aging, Alzheimer’s, and dementias, that we all might want to think about:
I am tremendously concerned about the future of Medicare and access to affordable drugs and long-term care services. I also worry about extension of the retirement age that is under discussion when so many Americans over age 50 don’t even have work or are under-employed. News that women are not bounding back to work as quickly as men is frightening. The jobs picture must change.
Like many disease categories, Alzheimer’s is spoken of frequently in terms of early detection and urging transparently charting it on people’s medical records. Yet, as speakers pointed out, once someone is labeled as having cognitive problems on health records, they may become more dispensable at work because Alzheimer’s care is extremely costly. How can we come to grips with this?
Stigma associated with cognitive impairment remains huge, current treatment may alleviate symptoms in some, but treatments only help a small proportion of a people for a relatively small window of time.
There is a movement promoting using creative arts to engage people with Alzheimer’s. Today, we saw the movie, I Remember Better When I Paint, available on DVD from the Hidalgos Foundation. There are people around the US and elsewhere working with theater, dance, music, and art to engage Alzheimer’s patients.
We have a long way to go in shaping a fair and equitable national planning strategy for Alzheimer’s care. This conversation should continue.
Follow me on twitter at lauranewmanny.
Laura, I love your coverage and questions of this issue. In college, I was in a Drama with Special Populations class. We chose to work with residents in an eldercare facility, and had participants in various stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia. They enjoyed the time, especially the theatre games that offered chances to explore the idea of memory. I’m glad to read that someone is promoting these types of activities for Alzheimer’s patients. Thanks for posting.