Summary
It can be very difficult and emotionally draining to care for a loved one who has dementia. It can also be difficult for children to see their relatives experiencing the degenerative effects of the disease. As a result, it is important to educate children about dementia because it can effect how they view their relatives and the changes in behavior that come with dementia.
Original source:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_2646075
Details
Caregiving for an ill, elderly parent or friend can be tough.
But the situation beomes complicated when the elder suffers from dementia.
"Dementia can be harder to accept than physical problems, because the person looks the same," said Donna Schempp, program director for Family Caregiver Alliance, a nonprofit resource and information center.
A teen may become embarrassed when an elder wanders unannounced into a room when he's with friends.
Parents sometimes may ignore the effect of the dementia on the children because of concern for the elder.
These popular information programs are needed because medical professionals treating the patient with dementia rarely focus on the caregiver or the family, Schempp said.
Teens, who usually are embarrassed about their parents in any case, can be confused as well as especially embarrassed about dementia in a relative.
SF AIRPORT'S RON WILSON TO SPEAK ON AIRPORT PLANS --- Ron Wilson, director of the Bureau of Community Affairs for the SF Airport Commission and former long-time spokesman for SFO, will speak at the monthly lunch meeting of Sons in Retirement (SIRS) at noon Wednesday at the Elks Lodge, 229 W. 20th Ave., San Mateo.
For information, call Hank Herz at 348-1775.
LEARN ABOUT ADVANCED HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES --- The Terri Schiavo case has awakened Americans to the importance of Advance Health Care Directives (AHCD) --- a written document that designates a health-care agent to speak for a patient if the patient is unable to communicate or speak for him- or herself.
Because Terri Schiavo had not prepared such a document, the result was the public, painful wrangling of her survivors over her end-of-life care.
For
information on Advanced Care Health Directives, check the Web site of the California Medical Association (www.cmanet.org).
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Wednesday, May 11, 2005
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