April 28, 2009
21st Century Caregivers: Diversity in Culture
By: Dawn Lehman, PhD
(Aging Well Magazine – March/April 2009) — As the proportion of culturally diverse elders increases, practitioners must recognize cultural differences and help caregivers adapt to disparate attitudes, values, and behaviors.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the nation’s population will be more racially and ethnically diverse, as well as much older, by 2050. Minorities, now representing about one third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority by 2042, with the nation projected to be 54% minority by 2050. The proportion of older adults from ethnic and racial minority groups is projected to increase exponentially by 2050, with the largest growth rates among Hispanics, followed by Asian-Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and African Americans.
The population increase of ethnic older adults is prompting research on ways to improve care for this population. Many practitioners, such as social workers, nurses, physicians, and community workers, acknowledge that they need to consider diversity when working with elder care recipients and their caregivers.
Research shows common characteristics of caregiving among various racial and ethnic groups in America, as well as differences based on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors passed from one generation to another. It’s essential for healthcare practitioners to be cognizant of cultural differences among clients and their families and tailor expectations and behaviors with respect to ethnic beliefs and values.
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**Family Alliance employs several fluent Spanish speaking day room amd administrative staff to provide services to our Spanish speaking clients and their caregivers.
April 21, 2009
More Evidence Links Diabetes to Alzheimer’s Risk
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(Huffington Post – March 17, 2009)– You’ve heard that diabetes hurts your head, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease and may speed dementia once it strikes.
Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar.
In fact, the lines are blurring between what specialists call “vascular dementia” and scarier classic Alzheimer’s disease. Whatever it’s labeled, there’s reason enough to safeguard your brain by fighting diabetes and heart-related risks.
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**Family Alliance has a Dementia Specific Day Program with door-to-door transportation and a full-time Registered Nurse on-site to monitor clients’ health and administer medications. Family Alliance also offers Dementia Support Services for seniors, age 55 and older, who live in our service area.
April 14, 2009
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Eases Anxiety for Older People
(HealthDay News – April 7, 2009) – For older adults, anxiety is an increasingly common problem, and new research suggests that cognitive behavior therapy may help them ease their worries more than standard care does.
Researchers found that people over 60 who were treated with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) had less worry, fewer depressive symptoms and improved general mental health at the end of the study compared to people who received biweekly telephone calls from their health-care provider.
“This kind of treatment (CBT) can be useful for people who have anxiety, and it can help them learn how to manage it better,” said the study’s lead author, Melinda Stanley, a professor in the Menninger department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
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** Family Alliance helps many older adults deal with their anxiety. Our Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Licensed Social Workers provide in-home, on-site, individual and group counseling services to people age 55 and older living in our service area. During counseling sessions clients share worries they are having and the Social Worker will help the clients learn what triggers these anxieties and how to control them.
April 6, 2009
Another Possible Alzheimer’s Culprit Found
(SFGate.com – February 19, 2009) - Researchers at biotechnology giant Genentech and the Salk Institute have discovered a new mechanism of nerve-cell death that might play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, opening the door to a fresh array of possible tactics to battle the devastating neurodegenerative illness.
A protein long suspected as the culprit behind the brain disorder might actually release not just one, but two components that can cause nerve cells to self-destruct. In theory, the breakdown of the protein, called APP for short, could unleash a double whammy of harmful effects on nerve cells.
Much of the drug research in the field now focuses on the first component of APP discovered to have a strong link to Alzheimer’s disease. That component, the amyloid beta peptide, collects in abnormal plaques in the brain that are a diagnostic sign of the ailment.
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April 3, 2009
Caring for Your Parents Without Killing Your Siblings
(Prospeak – indianageriatrics.com – October 2008) – According to Merriam-Webster, sibling is defined as one of two or more individuals having one common parent. Families have definite roles and functions for siblings to perform. These may vary from family to family, as well as culture to culture…
A study by sociologists J. Jill Suitor of Louisiana State University and Karl Pillemer of Cornell University reports that caregivers indicated that siblings were overwhelmingly the most important source of interpersonal stress. As adult children caring for aging parents, we are reminded of our own changes in both the physical and emotional realm.
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** Family Alliance hosts caregiver support groups two times a month to help deal with the stress of caring for an aging parent. Often times more than one sibling is caring for their parent, conflict in appropriate care or placement for a parent are issues that can be resolved in a caregiver support group at Family Alliance.
