The adage “It takes a village” may apply to more than raising children. Supporting elderly dementia patients requires the support of the whole community, as well, according to Dean Sherzai, MD, director of the Memory and Aging Center at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
It is a need that grows ever larger as the number of adults over age 80 rapidly expands—one of the fastest growing segments of the United States population.
“The biggest dilemma our society is about to face is that of aging,” Dr. Sherzai says, “and all the diseases that diminish people’s cognition. We are without the resources to respond to this.
“No amount of health care or policy can help unless the community joins together to deal with this.”
To address this need, several individuals at Loma Linda University have bound together to increase support for people affected by dementia and other problems of aging. Along with Dr. Sherzai, those working toward solutions comprise Carrie Eskay, MSW, clinical educator, Behavioral Health Institute and department of social work and social ecology; Randall Walker, MS, MFT, director of the LLU Counseling and Family Sciences Clinic; and Harvey Elder, MD, professor of medicine.
They hope that a recent series of Loma Linda University Health workshops on dementia, as well as an on-campus support group for caregivers of people with dementia, will be just the beginning of the organization’s influence on improving community support and care for those affected by dementia.
The workshop series took place weekly during November, National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness month. The first three sessions were geared toward educating the community about the prevention, effects, and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
The fourth session allowed local health leaders and policy makers to discuss problems and solutions regarding care for the aging population in this community. Individuals attending included health officials from San Bernardino and Riverside counties, a representative of the California Southland Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and the director of Catholic Charities of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
“The idea is to meet again and create a countywide collaborative of community organizations, businesses, faith organizations, local government, and health care organizations,” Dr. Sherzai says. He hopes that together these partners can host a countywide healthy aging conference in fall 2013.
Carrie Eskay concurs, stating, “These collaborations and partnerships are an important step forward in providing comprehensive and necessary support services to those in the Inland Empire who are caring for a loved one with dementia and to those who are living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.”
In addition to this, a dementia support group meets on the Loma Linda University campus for anyone caring for a person with this disorder. It takes place, free of charge, on Mondays from 3:30 to 5:00 at the Behavioral Health Institute, second floor, 1686 Barton Road in Redlands, 92373. For more information, call (909) 558-9161.
Dr. Sherzai anticipates and hopes that LLU Health can help drive the development of other support groups throughout the area by training community members to lead groups meeting at places of worship, senior centers, and other gathering places.
“As people age, they gain in experience and knowledge,” he says. “This enriches lives but also makes suffering more profound as they lose loved ones and themselves. To at the same time have no one to help or guide them through this adds insult to insult.”