Caregivers & Families

Caregiving is a difficult task, ICRN provides tips on practical caregiving.

• How to care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease and Down Syndrome.
• The Alzheimer’s Association offers Tips for Safety Issues, such as driving, the home and the risk of wandering.
• Alzheimer’s Association also offers Effective Ways to Communicate.
• One very difficult task can be taking away a loved ones ability to drive. This website provides suggestions in how to have this difficult conversation.
• It is also extremely important to discuss changes that are happening with children or grandchildren. The Alzheimer’s Association provides helpful ways to Communicate with your Kids and Teens, as does the The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.
• Additionally, branches of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of American have created the Alzheimer’s Foundation of American for Teens, which provides information on Alzheimer’s, ways to cope and different resources and ways to get connected to other individuals.

There is also training and education available for caregivers from the Alzheimer’s Association. This website provides online training as well as “essentiALZ” certification. (Please note that this certification does have a fee.)

The Family Caregiver Alliance provides a wide array of support, such as the following:

• Caregiver Education provides advice based on different health issues, issues and strategies, webinars, facts and tips, a calendar of classes and events, as well as a way for Caregivers to Connect.
• The Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors covers topics such as communication, troubling behavior, wandering, paranoia, and sleeplessness and sundowning.
• Information on Policy and Advocacy.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America has helpful strategies for caregivers, as well as Education and Care for your loved one, such as ways to help with behavior, like music or animal therapy.

The National Institute on Aging also provides numerous Fact Sheets for caregivers and those possibly experiencing memory loss with helpful information.