Alzheimer's Foundation of America

In the News

Find articles and reports that can be helpful for you and those you care for…

Caregiver Matchmaking: Choosing a Caregiver

Volume 18, Number 1

Choosing a caregiver for a loved one with memory loss should be about creating a relationship between the two, one that is built not just on skills but ideally will involve creativity, flexibility and mutual interests.

“What’s most challenging is finding people who really have a genuine passion for the work,” says Joe Fisher, founder and CEO of Renewal Memory Partners who has 15 years of experience matching caregivers and receivers. “Many people are just looking for a paycheck. You want to find people who view this work as a calling. That brings a totally different energy to the work that is felt by the clients.”

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Caregiver Creativity: Connecting Through Legos

Volume 18, Number 1

Loretta Veney was five when her mother gave her Legos to play with. Little did either know then that those colorful plastic bricks would be part of a lifelong bond between them and would eventually send Veney into a career path she never could have foreseen.

The bricks, given without any instructions, were meant to make the child creative but they became therapeutic for the mother, who often suffered from depression. “If she had a bad day at work, we got the Legos out. We talked through things with the Legos.”

Do You Have to Choose Between Work and Caregiving?

Volume 18, Number 1

According to the National Council on Aging, 70% of caregivers who provide care for an aging loved one suffer work-related difficulties due to their dual roles—they take time off, forgo promotions and sometimes leave the workforce altogether. Employees lose up to $3 trillion in wages and benefits while employers lose $17-33 billion due to absenteeism and turnover.

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The Healing Power of a Pet: Pets and Alzheimer’s disease

Volume 18, Number 1

Team Suzy makes a difference with the help of AFA grant funding. Alzheimer’s TODAY sat with Mike Plaskey, founder of Team Suzy, to discuss the relationship between pets and Alzheimer’s disease.

Spreading a Message of Hope: Q & A with Singer Mauren McGovern

Volume 18, Number 1

Maureen McGovern was was a 23-year-old folk singer in 1972 when she was chosen to record “The Morning After” for The Poseidon Adventure. The song and movie became megahits and launched her five-decade career as a concert performer, recording artist and Broadway musical theatre actress. All of that changed several years ago when she was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a degenerative brain and nervous system disorder, with symptoms of Alzheimer’s. She spoke to Alzheimer’s TODAY about her life back home in Ohio and the projects she has planned.

Genetic Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease: To Test or Not to Test

Volume 18, Number 1

Genetic testing for Alzheimer’s disease has become a hot topic following the recent controversy surrounding Australian actor Chris Hemsworth’s decision to go public with the results that his test revealed a high risk for Alzheimer’s. Nathaniel A. Chin, MD, an assistant professor (CHS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, department of medicine, geriatric division, says “probably the most important question” involving this interest is what people should consider before getting tested.

COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s Disease: Ask the AFA Medical Advisory Board

Volume 18, Number 1

Three years since a global pandemic brought the world to a standstill and introduced a multitude of questions about how the virus would impact underlying conditions, we sat down with Dr. Allison Reiss, MD, from AFA’s Medical Advisory Board to discuss the connection between COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease.

Navigating Difficult Behaviors

Volume 17, Number 3

Difficult behaviors may also be a response to our lack of visual signals when our loved one is communicating a need. We can ask ourselves, “Is my loved one hungry, thirsty, in need of the bathroom, in pain?” If we meet that need, then the behavior may cease. We may also need to ask ourselves what happened before the behavior. Can we identify any triggers? Understanding triggers and needs will help better manage these difficult behaviors.

Hoarding and Dementia

Volume 17, Number 3

Hoarding is most apt to begin in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and related diseases. A symptom of anxiety, hoarding involves accumulating items most people consider worthless. When they pile up around the home, they present multiple tripping hazards. Stocking up on food, another common practice, can lead to infestation of pests and food that’s unsafe to eat.

Women’s Alzheimer’s Risk

Volume 17, Number 3

Women’s Alzheimer’s risk is about twice as high as men’s. About two-thirds of the more than six million Americans living with Alzheimer’s are women, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why Alzheimer’s affects women disproportionately is unknown, but clues exist that can help women safeguard their risks.

Intuitive Eating for Older Adults

Volume 17, Number 3

Intuitive eating for older adults is a non-diet approach to eating developed by two registered dietitians in the 1990s. Rather than following a strict diet, intuitive eating allows for flexibility and gets rid of “black and white” thinking around foods. It allows all foods a place without judgment or guilt.

Managing Incontinence

Volume 17, Number 3

Incontinence can be common with dementia-related illnesses, and is nothing to be ashamed of. AFA has tips for managing incontinence.

Ambiguous Loss: Put Your Own Mask On First

Volume 17, Number 3

Family therapist Dr. Pauline Boss created the term Ambiguous Loss in the 1970s while speaking to families of soldiers who went missing in action. According to Dr. Boss, ambiguous loss is a loss that occurs without closure or a clear understanding—part of a person is with us and part of them is not.

Living with Lewy Body Dementia: Q & A with Barry Kauffman on living his life fully

Volume 17, Number 3

Michigan resident Barry Kaufman, 82, has been living with Lewy body dementia (LBD) for 12 years. He spoke with Alzheimer’s TODAY about the life he has made for himself since his diagnosis.

Depression, Sleep Problems, and Alzheimer’s disease

Volume 17, Number 3

Across neurological diseases, depression has the greatest impact on quality of life in patients, said Dr. Cummings. “When your loved one is depressed, you feel sad, you feel guilty, you feel like you’re doing something wrong and that’s why they’re sad. Linking those changes to Alzheimer’s disease is often not the first intuitive step that a caregiver takes.”

The Art of Persuasion

Volume 17, Number 3

If you’re a family member interacting with your loved one with Alzheimer’s, it’s pretty safe to say you’ve gotten frustrated with how to get them to do tasks that seem pretty straightforward to you. This article offers examples of persuasion techniques for Dementia caregivers that will help avoid frustration on both your parts.

Enhanced Engagement: An Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiving Approach

Volume 17, Number 3

Laurette Klier developed her enhanced engagement dementia caregiving approach while visiting her mother-in-law, Nana Mary. Nana Mary was an avid reader until dementia turned this activity into a source of frustration. Klier searched for modified books to meet Nana Mary’s changing needs. But the picture and children’s books “were neither dignified nor stimulating.” So, she set out to create art and literature-based books that were beautiful and engaging, and evoked nostalgia. She has now published a series of these Nana’s Books.

“Why Do They Do That?” with Teepa Snow

Volume 17, Number 3

Teepa Snow is one of the country’s leading educators on dementia. She joined AFA for a webinar answering a question which caregivers of individuals living with memory loss ask themselves regularly, “Why do they do that?”

Find Joy. No Regrets: Living with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s

Volume 17, Number 3

Lisa Marshall’s husband, Peter, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at 53 in April 2018. He died in December 2021 at the age of 56. For most of that time Lisa was his sole caregiver. We sat down with her to talk about how she was able to still find joy while helping her husband live with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

For the Caregiver: Self-Care and Mindfulness

Volume 17, Number 2

Caring for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s can be filled with so many mixed emotions. Let’s normalize the challenges that come with caregiving. Some days it’s a blessing and full of joyful moments. Other days, caregiving is filled with heartache and many disappointments. Caregivers give unconditionally, and sometimes they give from an empty cup.

9 Tips to Combat Caregiver Depression

Volume 17, Number 2

Depression is a serious and common challenge facing Alzheimer’s family caregivers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they are at greater risk for depression than caregivers of people with other conditions.

What to do When Dementia Symptoms Progress: A Caregiver’s Perspective on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms

Volume 17, Number 2

Agitation, psychosis, depression, apathy, and sleep disturbance are common symptoms of dementia. David hopes that sharing his story will help other caregivers know what to do when dementia symptoms progress.

Helpline – Did You Know?

Volume 17, Number 1

When Alzheimer’s disease enters your life, it’s impossible to be prepared. Living with Alzheimer’s disease or caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s comes with a variety of emotions, stresses, and questions that can change as the disease progresses. Having a trusted place to turn to get help in these situations is critical.

When End of Life Nears

Volume 17, Number 1

Providing end-of-life care for a loved one with dementia can be unpredictable, and we often don’t know what to anticipate. Barbara Karnes, RN, an end-of-life educator and hospice pioneer, provides some helpful reminders about what families and caregivers can expect.

Baseball Reminiscence Program

Volume 17, Number 1

Baseball has a way of creating memories—trips to the ballpark with loved ones, rooting for a favorite team or player, having a catch with a parent, sibling, or child, and playing the game with friends—that last for generations. America’s national pastime is also helping families affected by dementia-related illnesses through “Baseball Memories,” a sports reminiscence program created by members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).