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More support available for Alzheimer's caregivers

Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA) - 7/27/2014

July 27--Too often, caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease takes a large toll on the health of the wife, husband, adult child or friend who is doing the caregiving.

Stress levels run high, and studies show that caregivers of people with Alzheimer's have shorter life spans than other caregivers.

"It's a demanding and challenging task," said David Rehm, president and CEO of HopeHealth, which provides services for people with Alzheimer's and dementia and their families.

Now caregivers on the Cape will be getting some extra assistance.

Thanks to a $40,400 grant from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, HopeHealth will expand the number of support group meetings it offers for Alzheimer's caregivers on the Cape and in Carver from 13 to 16 a month.

"There's just a huge unmet need here," Rehm said. The Hyannis-based HopeHealth also provides hospice care and home doctor visits.

Rehm estimated there are 10,000 people on the Cape and Islands living with the brain degenerative diseases of Alzheimer's and dementia.

"Caring for someone with any form of dementia is one of the biggest challenges there is," HopeHealth spokeswoman Melissa Weidman said. "It's got special challenges. Your loved one might not know who you are."

HopeHealth's support groups are designed to accommodate both caregivers and patients, so caregivers can bring their loved ones to the support group meeting place instead of having to arrange alternative care.

The caregivers meet in a group led by a trained facilitator to get education and support "to help manage the difficult, inevitable changes in their loved ones with the disease," said Stacey Mann, spokeswoman for the Tufts foundation.

"Meanwhile, those with Alzheimer's or related dementia are in another room, getting socialization, stimulation and support," she wrote in an email.

The HopeHealth program is known as CARES, for Compassionate Alzheimer's Respite, Education and Support.

"We developed this CARES group model over a number of years," Rehm said. "It's been very successful."

HopeHealth support groups for Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers meet in Bourne, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Harwich, Mashpee, Wellfleet and Carver, Mann said.

The money awarded to HopeHealth is part of a $1.6 million disbursement that the Tufts foundation distributed among 43 Massachusetts and Rhode Island-based organization that focus on healthy aging.

It was part of the first cycle of funding for 2014. Other beneficiaries include All Out Adventures, which provides outdoor recreation for seniors, the Latino Health Insurance Program and the Golden Tones musical outreach program.

Tufts Health Plan started the Tufts Health Plan Foundation in 2008. It has given more than $15 million to nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

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(c)2014 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.)

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