Group helps families adjust to living with Alzheimer's

ST. LOUIS -- A new not-for-profit organization is helping families cope after a loved-one is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other memory impairments.

Memory Care Home Solutions provides training classes, home visits and individually tailored care strategies to reduce stress for family members who suddenly find themselves caregivers for someone with a memory impairment.

One of the group's highest priorities is helping families transform their homes into healthy and safe places for people with memory loss.

"For people with Alzheimer's and dementia, staying at home in a familiar place with familiar faces makes therapeutic sense," said executive director and founder Lisa Baron.

Baron was driven to take action through her experience with her mother-in-law's Alzheimer's disease. Since last fall, the organization has served 240 families, and the number of caregivers it serves is rising each month.

'Beter environment'

"It will provide a better environment for the patient and also will save money, because hospitalization and skilled nursing facilities are expensive," says Dr. William Peck, one of the organization's advisers and director of the Center for Health Policy at Washington University.

Memory Care Home Solutions has helped people like Andy Becker, whose memory start slipping about three years ago. He had trouble finding his direction and wondered whether he should continue driving.

When Becker and his wife received the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, Judy Becker wanted to learn all she could and what she could do to keep him at their home in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue.

Memory Care Home Solutions teaches caregivers like Judy Becker what behaviors to expect at various stages of Alzheimer's, such as hiding and hoarding things, wandering or becoming disoriented at night.

Judy Becker learned that if her husband asks a question many times, she should answer each time and not lose patience.

Alzheimer's affects about 4.5 million people in the United States and usually develops in people age 65 or older. Although it's the most common cause of dementia, there are other conditions that can cause a neurological disorder that impairs the ability to think, speak, reason, remember and move.

Baron said the program used a sliding scale fee system and offered financial assistance for its services, which cost about $50 for a home visit and assessment plus $50 for a comprehensive written plan of care.

"We live life in the moment," Judy Becker said. "He enjoys what we're doing now. Sometimes he won't remember what we did, but he had a good time while we were doing it -- and that's fine with me."

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com