Dear Editor,
Technically, it is not an epidemic, but our community is experiencing a significant annual increase in people with dementia. Are we prepared, or even preparing, for it?
About 1,000, or about one in six, of our neighbors age 65 or older – even more if we include people under 65 – have some form of mental impairment. About 70 percent of people with dementia have Alzheimers. Also, this means that an equal number, or more, people in our community are trying to cope as caregivers. Also important, this is a multi-generational problem since many of the caregivers are under age 65, which makes this a major community problem.
These numbers are based on “reported” cases; many cases go undiagnosed or unreported. So, the numbers may be much greater.
This “new” reality is the continually increasing average age of our residents, and the challenges which result. This is true nationally as well as locally.
Perhaps, we need community programs designed to help people identify dementia, locate available resources to help those in need of care and their caregivers, create adult day care facilities, and other related matters. An adult day care facility is one where a caregiver can do something else for a couple of hours while the person they are caring for is supervised in a safe place; there is no such facility in Independence Township.
What do you think? Do we need such programs? Who should provide them? What services are needed? Where should we start?
Tom Stone
Clarkston