Ahead of an aging population, researchers are urging Connecticut legislators to gear up for an increase in residents with Alzheimer”™s disease and related dementias.
Whether a patient or a caregiver, more people will need services and support, said Deborah Migneault, a legislative and community liaison for the Connecticut Commission on Aging.
An additional 6,000 people will be living with Alzheimer”™s in Connecticut by 2025 and the annual cost for care is expected to range from $27,000 to $72,000 per person, depending on whether or not he or she lives in a nursing facility, according to the commission
“If we don”™t have the proper services in place for a person with dementia, it all goes to the caregiver,” Migneault said. “Caregivers are able to provide $2.4 billion in unpaid care in this state. If you support them, they can continue to do that. If you don”™t, they burn out, get sick themselves and then they can no longer provide care.”
Part of the General Assembly”™s task force on Alzheimer”™s, Migneault said there are several key recommendations the task force is urging legislators to act on. There needs to be greater outreach for early detection, expanded services to reflect an increased demand and greater training within care facilities, Migneault said.
Adding another 50 residents to the state”™s respite care program would likely cost $800,000 alone, but Migneault cautioned that unless the state makes the necessary investments, it will lose more money in the long run with additional health care costs to cover. Medicaid and Medicare pay $48,700 per year for a person with Alzheimer”™s to live in a residential facility versus $18,600 for him or her to live within the community.
“Caregivers are proving a vast majority of care and are not supported as well as we”™d hope,” Migneault said. The task force recommends providing additional education materials for the community on how to care for the elderly as well as support for adult day care facilities and similar services to relieve caregivers. There”™s also a need to encourage employers to further implement flexible work schedules, she said.
The task force will present its final recommendations to the public health committee Jan. 1 with hopes legislators will propose a bill during the upcoming session. Migneault said it”™s likely the first call to order will surround training at care facilities, requiring all staff members to know how to interact and care for residents with memory loss. Current laws only require direct-care providers to have specialized training.
The proposal to increased training requirements is one CEO Gregory D. Smith of Maplewood Senior Living said he thinks is vitally important. All of the company”™s employees, whether they”™re dishwashers or receptionists, are trained on how to interact with residents with memory loss to reduce possible instances of agitation.
Smith said the company has seen improved health outcomes and wellbeing for residents since implementing the all-staff training.
“Every person that manages residents”™ care needs to be understanding and trained properly, wherever the touch point is,” Smith said. “Training is such an important part of what we do and continuous training is a big part of that as well.”
Smith said he felt legislative training requirements would help facilities continuously improve and revise training materials to reflect new technologies and research. Currently Maplewood is building a residential memory care facility in Bethel, expected to be complete in the fall 2014. The facility, Smith said, will have an educational training program for general community members to learn more about memory loss and how to care for those with it.
“Our approach to care is about how they”™re feeling in that moment and what we can do to provide an experience they might not remember ”” but for that instant will give them satisfaction and enjoyment in life,” Smith said.
