Free Community Workshop Will Focus on Growing Needs of Alzheimer’s Patients & Their Caregivers

Alzheimer's Disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior.  It is typically a disease of the elderly. Caring for someone afflicted with this terminal illness can be a 24 hour job for many families.

A free workshop in Kernersville this month will provide some help for caregivers and families of individuals suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. Hospice of the Piedmont is hosting the event along with several other community organizations.

Trent Cockerham is the President and CEO of Hospice of the Piedmont, which serves individuals in Guilford, Randolph, Davidson and Forsyth Counties. He says the program will help address a growing need for more awareness about the neurological disorder.

“In North Carolina in 2013, there were 442,000 caregivers providing services to folks with Alzheimer's Disease and to put that in context , those caregivers are providing services to more than 170,000 people in North Carolina alone,” says  Cockerham.

The number of people with the disease is expected to grow exponentially over the next 10 years.  Medical experts say one of the reasons for the increase in Alzheimer's cases is that people are living longer. Researchers also point to studies that indicate a correlation between type II diabetes and an increased risk for Alzheimer's.

During the workshop, several community members will share their own personal experiences with the disease, including WXII-TV meteorologist Lanie Pope,  and Bobby Lutz, North Carolina State University Associate Head Basketball Coach. Nationally renowned Alzheimer's expert Melanie Bunn will discuss approaches and strategies for care, and Laura Baker, professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest University will discuss research surrounding the disease. The workshop will conclude with a panel discussion during which participants' questions will be answered.

Dr. Genevieve Wroblewski, the medical director at Hospice of the Piedmont, says caregivers will also learn about local support groups and coping methods.

“There are issues that arise related to behavioral manifestations of the disease that can be quite distressing for caregivers. The workshop will also explore ways that caregivers can give themselves respite time and give them an opportunity to recognize that there are a lot of other people in the community that struggle with the same issues that they do,” says Wroblewski.

Over the past year, Hospice of the Piedmont has been training clinical staff on how to use a new type of therapy for Alzheimer's called “Self Portrait”. Wroblewski says workshop participants will learn more about this treatment program. “We have developed a process where individuals who are under our care have a portrait of themselves created through an interview with their caregivers so we can key into a special interest that patient had with their prior life, the music they enjoyed,  and really try to create comfort through non-medical, medication-related therapies,” she says.

The free workshop will be held on Thursday, May 29 at the Piedmont Triad Council Offices in Kernersville. Registration is required. For more information, click here.