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March 19, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: The Divine is in the details
JWisdom.com Stewards of sacrifice with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama is waging war on Israel
March 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Israel's New Enemy: America?
JWisdom.com Love me not? with Rabbi David Aaron (5 minutes)
Jonathan Rosenblum: Washington Throws a Tantrum
March 17, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Orwell, Santayana, and Me
Jonathan Tobin: How Many Lives Is Biden's Pride Worth?
March 16, 2010
Steven Emerson: Combating Lawfare
JWisdom.com How to perform a miracle with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair (4 minutes)
Anne Bayefsky: Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel
March 15, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT
March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review Dec. 8, 2008 / 11 Kislev 5769

Dementia patient slips through the cracks

By Jan L. Warner & Jan Collins


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q: Since my mother, now 71, was diagnosed with dementia and probably Alzheimer's three years ago, she has steadily declined. At first, my father was able to take care of her with part-time help from me; however, as time has passed, she has become too much for him to handle. And when he suffered a stroke and then a fatal heart attack, Mom's care became my total responsibility.


With my husband's agreement, I stopped work and moved Mom in with us; but I soon found that I could not meet her needs, especially when she became aggressive and, on occasion, physically abusive to me and our teenage son. We never knew what was going to set her off, and it got to the point that the stress was causing problems in my marriage and with my son, who could not bring friends to our home. Even medication did not help.


So my husband and I decided to try to find a suitable place for her to stay and have continued to strike out. This is why I am writing you. Even though Mom receives nearly $3,500 each month from Social Security and my father's pension, and has a home valued at $125,000 and investments of $85,000, she has been denied admission to two nursing homes and three residential-care facilities. I have learned that Medicare will pay nothing for her care. And even if she had no money, we are told that because she does not need "nursing care," Medicaid would not provide for her. It seems that people like her are slipping through the cracks. We, as a family, are having a very difficult time coping, and we know that she is miserable. With all we read about care for the elderly, why do we find ourselves in this situation, and what can we do?


A: As you and others who have "walked in your shoes" have learned, the impact of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or related dementia can be disastrous to the caregiver. In addition to feeling unduly burdened in the role of the caregiver, family caregivers face poorer health and higher levels of depression when compared to the general population.


Unfortunately, our health care system is not prepared to deal with the millions of Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. And with estimates of nearly four times that number by 2050, the future does not look bright unless there is a paradigm shift in the way care is provided.


While nursing homes were designed to care primarily for people with chronic, long-term medical problems of the body, not the mind, some estimate that two-thirds of the residents in these facilities suffer from some form of dementia, and a large percentage of them are very challenging to care for.


That's why respite care, that is, providing family and primary caregivers with intervals of relief from the demands of their roles as caregivers, is essential in helping them cope with the demands associated with providing care. Respite that provides caregivers with the opportunity to meet their other needs and comes in a number of forms: in-home care by another caregiver; short or overnight stays in a residential-care facility; or day services often referred to as "adult day care."


In researching your question, we came upon The Brookdale National Group Respite Program, a network of social model day service programs that provide opportunities for those with Alzheimer's disease to meet in groups outside their homes. Stressing socialization, recreation, and maintenance of functioning, the program has helped fund a number of sites in many states. These programs also provide caregiver support groups, individual support and counseling, assessments, referrals, and education and training for local community members.


According to Brookdale, most caregivers had been caring for a loved one at home for more than three years before seeking respite services.


If the available forms of respite services in your area are not giving you the relief you need, then it may be time to look at other options, which may include admission into an appropriate facility or hiring a full-time or part-time live-in caregiver. A lot depends on your financial wherewithal, because many Alzheimer's patients do not meet level-of-care requirements necessary to receive Medicaid nursing-home services.


In the final analysis, since you have been providing the care, you need to make your decision based on what is best for your mother and family.


Taking the NextStep: We suggest that you contact a geriatric care manager (www.caregiver.org) in your locale who might be able to help you locate other resources and make this difficult decision. To find out more about the Brookdale programs or to find one in your area, either write Brookdale National Group Respite Program For Alzheimer's Families at 2320 Channing Way, Berkeley, Calif. 94704, or call 510-540-6734.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JAN L. WARNER received his A.B. and J.D. degrees from the University of South Carolina and earned a Master of Legal Letters (L.L.M.) in Taxation from the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a frequent lecturer at legal education and public information programs throughout the United States. His articles have been published in national and state legal publications. Jan Collins began co-authoring Flying SoloŽ in 1989. She has more than 27 years of experience as a journalist, writer, and editor. To comment or ask a question, please click here.

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