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Treating the person within the patient
The Daily Camera
November 8, 2005
My grandma spent the last years of her life in a nursing home. As her diseased body painfully shut down, her mind remained sharp. ("Happy birthday sweetheart," was one of the last things she wrote to me. She never once forgot anyone's special day. "Please tell your Dad to buy me a car. I'd just like a little one.")
I remember a woman with Alzheimer's Disease who lived at the home. Every day, her husband would come and push her around a pond in her wheelchair. With each passing day, it became less certain that she would know who he was.
I found watching the pair heartbreaking. You're crazy, barked my grandma, who was at the time a recent widow. She said it was the best part of his day, since he got to spend it with the person he loves.
What my grandmother saw — and I was too ignorant to see — was the person within the patient.
More than 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's Disease. The disease is an insidious thief, stealing from its sufferers the one thing most people hold most dear: Their memories. And long before it eclipses its victims, it slowly steals husbands from wives, mothers from children.
Its toll can be terrifying, as illustrated by the high-profile case of Gunbarrel resident Fred Dingler. The 82-year-old, who has Alzheimer's, drove away from his home on Aug. 10 as his wife napped. He hasn't been found. In September, the last reported sighting, Dingler apparently spoke with some boys in Wyoming. His car, money and identification were found nearby.
The old-school treatment options for people with Alzheimer's were designed to specifically fight the flight of patients like Dingler. Facilities were geared to containment and safety.
Today, those who work closely with Alzheimer's patients and other patients with dementia say safety is still key. But recent studies support a more active role in supporting the patient's current state of being and mind. In short, therapies are designed to help make people with Alzheimer's happy.
Megan Carnarius, executive director of Balfour Cherrywood Village, has been working with Alzheimer's patients for 20 years, and says one of the hardest things to deal with is its longevity. From the onset, the disease can last between two and 25 years.
There is no cure, Carnarius stresses, but modern medicine and other treatments are helping patients maintain certain stages longer.
"The initial push (in Alzheimer's treatment) was on the family. But about 10 years ago, we were able to shift our focus to the person with the disease."
That means helping them make their own end-of-life decisions; helping them cultivate hobbies; setting up an environment where they can have dignity, but also fun.
At the CareLink adult day care center in Boulder, seniors with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia have a different kind of caregiver.
Elliott Dobbs is a non-stop entertainer. That is when the 11-month-old isn't taking a nap.
"He's such a powerful intervention tool. When someone's feeling out of sorts, you can just walk up to him with the baby," said Sarah Cleary, Elliott's mother. Cleary, a dance therapist, worked at Care Link before motherhood.
Now, Elliott accompanies his mother to the adult day care.
"It's such a good vehicle for people to talk about when they were parents and when they had little babies," Cleary said. "They just love him here. Elliott's a very outgoing baby, and he's not thrown by people coming up to him, and cootchi-cooing him."
Carnarius applauds programs geared toward enjoyment and human connection. She shares an article on art therapy for Alzheimer's patients. For reasons that cannot yet be explained, experts are finding that art programs — such as museum field trips — have a profound effect on the mental and emotional well-being of patients and tap into communication and other skills in a profound way.
"That's what excites me the most," Carnarius says. "There's always this moving edge to the disease, getting us closer to how to make people feel better and feel that fullness in their lives."