Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month
Recognizing Alzheimer's Impact on Floridians
June marks the beginning of Alzheimer’s and brain awareness month. This is a time where being well informed on Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is crucially important. At Right at Home Palm Beach, we want to do our part by proving you with information regarding Alzheimer’s.
How Alzheimer’s affects Floridians
According to The Alzheimer’s Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research, more than 47 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias worldwide today, and expected to grow to 76 million by 2030. Florida is home to more than 5 million people and over 500,000 are living with Alzheimer’s, a number expected to raise to 720,000 by 2025. Nationally, more than 5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and could be as high as 16 million by 2050.
2017 Alzheimer’s Facts
According to Alzheimer’s Association:
- Alzheimer’s is fatal. It kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined.
- People with Alzheimer's or other dementias have twice as many hospitals stays per year as other older people.
- Memory loss is just one aspect of Alzheimer’s. The disease also results in problems with executive function (manage time, pay attention, multitask, etc.), spatial relationships (problems with reading, judging distance, etc.), communication, and judgment. Other symptoms include anxiety, withdrawal, apathy, depression, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions.
- A woman's estimated lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer's at age 65 is 1 in 6, and as real a concern as breast cancer is to women's health, women in their 60s are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's during the rest of their lives as they are to develop breast cancer.
- Managing risk factors may delay or prevent cognitive problems later in life.
Read more at Alzheimer’s Associations 2017 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures.
Right at Home Palm Beach Gets Involved
Right at Home Palm Beach is proud to join the Alzheimer’s Association by going purple and raising awareness this month. Please contact us if you or a loved one needs information, support, or services surrounding Alzheimer’s Disease at (561) 440-2273.
As part of our continuing support in Alzheimer’s and other dementias research and awareness, Right at Home Palm Beach is offering the Dementia Live™ Experience. The Dementia Live™ Experience was developed by AGEucate Training Institute®. Through this program, guided by certified trainers at Right at Home, you experience the life of someone living with dementia through a virtual simulation meant heighten your understanding of what it’s like to live with cognitive impairment.
Read more at Dementia Live™ Experience.
