Some Facts And Figures......

By Bill Craig

........... about neurodegenerative disease. 

The one I want to focus on in this entry is what is known as "Sandwich Care". That is, caring for an adult with Alzheimer's while also taking care of a child or children at home. 

These caregivers constitute nearly 1 in 4 and nearly 60% of those folks rate their stress level as "very high" with 40% reporting symptoms of depression.

Lest you think I'm referring to adult children taking care of their elderly parents with Alzheimer's, don't. Don't think that, because I want you to go back a little further in age. I want you to think of teenagers taking care of their elderly parents.

You remember teens, right? Those humans who, from the ages of 13 to 18 are supposed to be going to school and participating in extra-curricular activities such as sports and dating. Just being kids, in other words. Going to dances, proms, games. In short,  having fun?

Instead, we have children taking care of their sick parents. Forced into adult responsibilities way before they should be. 

How do we fix this? 

There's no easy way, but a beginning would be to pay these caregivers for their time and devotion. Secondly, provide them a respite and let them "get away from it all" for a few days, and third, pay for other expenses such as fuel and anything else which might fall under the umbrella of being a caregiver. Something one would actually be proud to pay taxes for.

In researching this topic, According to Cai C. Yoke of The Alzheimer's Association, "The recently Senate-passed Biden Infrastructure Bill made provisions for physical infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc) only...", but human infrastructure was left "waiting at the door", so to speak. "Human Infrastructure" being the assistance to caregivers in the form of paid family leave and stronger caregiver support: The "Credit For Caring Act",  is our "foot in the door" in keeping the human aspect of the entire Infrastructure Bill alive.

How can you and I help?

Don't just write your legislator asking them to support the Act, include information of how Alzheimer's has impacted your family or a family you know financially, and then ask for their support citing "Credit For Caring" as the solution.

It's not enough sometimes to point out the problem, you have to give them a way to solve it,  too. 😀

My thanks to Snapper Freeman, of the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association for his assistance in this issue of the journal -

We still need Walkers for "Team Where To Bud" to help us meet our goal in the upcoming Walk To End Alzheimer's . Click on the link to participate, and thank you!


Bill

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