November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America has always raised money for research to find a cure and for treatment for this devastating disease. They also provide information for caregivers and loved ones on the care needs of people with Alzheimer’s. This month the spotlight is on their non-profit group and the work it does.
Since I’m interested in the various awareness months I try to focus on a few of them in my posts to help share information and spread the word. This disease has really touched me. I’ve known someone with Alzheimer’s and treated many clients as a Medical Social Worker. I’ve seen professionals who have worked all their lives left alone in a nursing home without any family to visit them. I’ve seen women who are so loved by their family that they wait for her to remember one of their names. This disease has no class barriers. Wealthy people as well as low income people are diagnosed.
There are about five million people living with Alzheimer’s in the United States and the need for quality care is expected to grow each year as more people are diagnosed. The estimates are that more than 16 million people will be diagnosed with this disease by the mid twenty-first century. This information is from the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. Many people try their best to care for their loved ones in their own homes. The need for instruction and education on safety and personal care is paramount.
You can help. Take a look at some of the holiday gift from the Foundation’s estore. Not only is there Hearts of Care Jewelery including a necklace, pendant and lapel pin, there is Your Time to Care DVD training program. All of the proceeds from your purchases benefit the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
We always donate to the various charities during the Holiday season. Purchasing a gift and knowing that the money is being used for an important cause makes gift giving easier. We have one family member who passed away from the affects of Alzheimer’s. Giving pendants to her children would bring a smile to their faces as soon as they learned the the reason for the gift.
You can feel good about buying a gift with a purpose. Spread the news that a cure and treatment funding is important but that right now people with Alzheimer’s need the best standards of care there is.
