Research News:
Alzheimer's care-study points to relief for families
By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 08/12/2007 11:37:35 PM MDT
The findings are stunning: Offering simple training to people struggling to care for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease not only eases their burden but can keep patients out of nursing homes for an extra 1 1/2 years.
But the exciting research also runs headlong into a grim reality: Alzheimer's caregivers seldom can make time in their daily grind to seek out that kind of help.
And when they do, they too often find waiting lists for services, or programs geared only toward people with advanced disease and not the larger pool in the purgatory that is dementia's decade-long middle ground between independence and helplessness.
That is one of Dolores Melnick's biggest frustrations.
Her husband refused to enroll in the "day care" for Alzheimer's patients near their Hainesport, N.J., home. It was hosting a singalong, and workers were setting up plastic bowling pins, too childish for Bob Melnick.
That meant no time for her to sneak off to a caregiver support group. On weekdays, she worries about whether he'll be OK because he's home alone while she's at work.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Neurology.