24 Aug
Dementia Care Facts and Figures about Alzheimer’s disease
Keeping up to date on information about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia can be a challenge for most professionals and family caregivers. There are several resources that can be utilized and a person could spend time “surfing” around to various websites to gain a better understanding of dementia. One article that I have found that provides updated information can be found on the GNC website www.goodnewsconsulting.com under either Family or Professional Resouces entitled, “Alzheimer’s Report Facts and Figures”.
When a Disoriented Senior Wants to Drive
Bystanders Must Decide What to Do When Confronted With Someone Unfit to Drive
By JOEL PARKS
Jan. 26, 2009
Bernie Padden, 92, stood alone on a Montclair, N.J., street corner. He seemed confused and disoriented as he wandered around, stopping passersby, and asking, “Excuse me, can you help me find my car?”
Actor Bernie Padden, 92, right, crashed into this motorbike while participating in ABC’s “What Would You Do?”
(ABC News)Nearly everyone who saw him stopped to lend a hand: “Just relax, don’t worry, we’ll find your car,” one young woman assured him.
These helpful strangers soon discovered not only that his car was right in front of him but that he had forgotten how to start it, and how to put it into gear. Even so, all of them watched him get behind the wheel and drive off.
According to Peter Reed, senior director of programs for the Alzheimer’s Association, the decision to take away a senior’s keys isn’t simple.
“It’s a really difficult decision to make for any person and for a family, because it’s a part of who we are,” he said. “It’s our independence; it’s how we get around.”
It certainly is a difficult decision and, as our population ages, it’s a decision more and more of us will face.
Grim Statistics
August 28th, 2009 at 7:21 pmAlthough most senior citizens are careful behind the wheel, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers older than 70 have a higher fatality rate per mile than any other group, except people under 25. And most of those fatalities happened at some kind of crossroads.