AlzHub

Services To Help With Wandering

I’d like to bring some attention to two services that are available to help find and protect Alzheimer’s patients that tend to wander.

The first is the Safe Return Program through the Alzheimer’s Association.
The Safe Return Program registers patients and keeps a photograph, identifying physical description of the patient and contact information for the family / caregiver. The patient is given an identification product (wallet card, clothing tag or jewelry) to carry with them in case they get lost.

If the patient wanders away, the family or caregiver can notify the program who then contacts local law enforcement authorities. The program works with law enforcement officials, emergency medical technicians, and transit operators. Whoever finds the patient (there is a 99% success rate so far) contacts the program at the toll-free number. The program then contacts the family members from the supplied contact information and gets everyone reunited.

While the patient is lost, the Alzheimer’s Association supports the family and caregiver, law enforcement does the searching.

The second program I just learned of recently from the website of the City of Monrovia. It is called Project Lifesaver. The City Council just approved the money to purchase the necessary equipment to become part of the program.

Project Lifesaver is similar to the Safe Return Program in that it involves the participation of law enforcement and is geared toward Alzheimer’s patients and others that wander. Project Lifesaver takes it one step further by using technology to locate the wanderer.

The family / caregiver purchases a bracelet that contains a transmitter for the patient to wear. If the patient wanders off, the police can use tracking equipment to find them very quickly (100% success rate so far). This is the main difference between the programs. The transmitter allows the police to zero in on the patient right away as opposed to driving around searching or waiting for someone to call the toll-free number.

I’m glad to see cities step up and provide services like this that allow people with Alzheimer’s or dementia to stay in their homes longer and that also give caregivers a little more peace of mind. These are the things that make a city a community. Assisted living homes typically offer bracelets that set off an alarm when someone goes out the door, but assisted living homes are expensive. When a city is willing to provide this service (for $200 in Monrovia), that’s a great thing.

Both of these programs are very effective. The Safe Return Program is nationwide and is readily available for a small registration fee. The Project Lifesaver Program is an international program but is only in 35 states so far due to the equipment and training needed. There is no reason why it can’t expand everywhere. Suggest it where you live.
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Here’s the announcement from the City Of Monrovia website:

Project Lifesaver Participation Approved

Families of Alzheimer victims, dementia sufferers, autistic children and others susceptible to wandering will soon be able to get help through a new program approved by the Monrovia City Council.

The Council approved the expenditure of $5,300 by the Monrovia Police Department to purchase a radio tracking device used in Project Lifesaver, a nationwide program to provide rapid response to locate individuals susceptible to wandering from family or care givers.

Under the program, specially-trained Monrovia police officers, formed into rescue teams equipped with the locating device, will be able to track and find individuals who are outfitted with Project Lifesaver transmitting wristbands.

Training will be provided by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, the lead agency in California for the program, which is headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Once the program is in place here – following the equipment purchase and training – transmitting bracelets can be purchased by families and caregivers at a cost of $200 each.

The local program has the support of the Monrovia Providers Group, made up of individuals and organizations that offer support to local elderly residents.

World Alzheimer's Day

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day.

From Alzheimer’s Disease International:

“World Alzheimer's Day™, 21 September each year, is a day on which Alzheimer associations concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about dementia. There are an estimated 18 million people around the world who currently have dementia.”

In addition to raising awareness, I think today would be a good day to:

-Visit a family member / friend / loved one that has Alzheimer’s.
-Offer help to a caregiver.
-Learn something new about Alzheimer’s.
-Volunteer with an Alzheimer’s organization near you.
-Donate money to an Alzheimer’s association near you.

Thanks…

Additional link:
Alzheimer's Association - World Alzheimer's Day

Medicare To Cover PET Scans For Alzheimer’s Disease

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that they will begin coverage, under certain circumstances, of PET (positron emission tomography) scans to help in the diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease.

From an article in Senior Journal.com:

"The National Coverage Decision expands the coverage of PET to include beneficiaries who meet the diagnostic criteria for both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), who have been evaluated for specific alternate causes of dementia, and for whom the cause of the clinical symptoms remains uncertain. Medicare coverage of PET also includes other patients with suspected AD who enroll in a large, CMS-approved, practical clinical trial."

With the high cost of care for Alzheimer’s patients, any help with those costs makes a big difference. Especially with something as expensive as a PET scan.

Read the full Senior Journal.com article here.

Additional articles:

US to Pay for Brain Scans to Diagnose Alzheimer's - Reuters
Gov't to pay for Alzheimer's scans – CNN/Money

Using Anti-Amyloid Antibodies To Fight Alzheimer’s

A new small (5 patient) study has shown that people have antibodies that are specific to fighting beta amyloid (the plaque that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease) and that those antibodies can be used as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s.

Results from the study showed the levels of beta amyloid in the brain decreased by 30% while the levels of beta amyloid in the blood increased by 233%. The mental function of the patients did not decrease and actually increased slightly.

A larger study is needed to test the safety and effectiveness of this treatment but this is one more encouraging possibility in the fight against Alzheimer’s.

For more information, see the following articles:

Antibody Therapy Shows Promise Against Alzheimer's – Reuters
Blood Product May Treat Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD

Thoughts From A Caregiver

I’d like to share this great article written by Carrie Howson called:

Some Thoughts On Early Alzheimer’s.

She is a caregiver for her husband, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This is the real thing. This is from someone who is living this every day.

She offers some personal insight into what to expect and start preparing for in the early stages. She covers changes in the patient, what the caregiver goes through and advice for the caregiver, and some of the resources that are available.

Also be sure to check out her poems that she has written about Alzheimer’s.

Links:
Some Thoughts On Early Alzheimer’s
Poems

New York's Assisted Living Measure

The New York State Legislature passed a bill last month to provide oversight and enforcement of Assisted Living facilities.

Here’s an excerpt from an article written by Newsday.com staff writers Dawn Mackeen and Lauren Terrazzano with additional contribution from staff writer Eden Laikin:

"This bill is an insurance policy to guarantee that all of the families that have loved ones in assisted living ... will have standards that they can rely on," said Assemb. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), chair of the Assembly's aging committee who led the fight to create the law.”

The full article from Newsday.com is here:
Legislature OKs assisted living measure

I’m surprised it took this long. This is an industry that is growing but it requires knowledge, training and a commitment to the well being and safety of the residents.

Minimum standards of care need to be established and people need someplace they can turn to if those standards aren’t being met.

The remaining states without regulations need to address this issue now and do the right thing for their citizens.