A new article in Salem’s Statesman Journal has described family and friends of people with Alzheimer’s in Oregon providing about $2.2 billion worth of unpaid care. Projections are that the scourge will continue to grow by 69% (up to 110,000) by 2025. A statewide task force revealed a proposal that focuses on caregivers, the state government and how to improve the quality of care for patients. Prominent among the aspects of the proposal is to require all caregivers, including family members, to get training for how to provide care to those with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Patients in the late state of these maladies require around the clock care, not something that many people and families can afford. Thus, the responsibilities fall on the family members. The proposal is that by 2015, Oregon will make training mandatory for anyone who is a guardian within 90-days of being appointed to this position.
As I have written in the past, projections are for one out of every eight baby boomers to succumb to this plague for which there is no cure (at this time). The job of care taking someone with dementia is challenging at best and exhausting mentally and physically. I have my own proposals in my new book that describes the challenges of unconscious empathy and how difficult it is to maintain healthy boundaries and preserve one’s own health and well being. My book is described on my website, www.DynamicEnergeticHealing.com.
Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW
August 1, 2012
Howard Brockman
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