Alzheimer’s and other memory loss diseases influence more than those who suffer from the disease. According to the Alzheimers Association, family and friends of those with memory loss provide 17.9 billion hours of unpaid care. Nearly 60 percent of these caregivers rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high.
When caregivers are stressed, it directly affects the health of the person they are trying to help. It can also worsen mental health of the caregiver, impair their immune system, and speed up placement of their loved one in a residential care setting.
University of Minnesota School of Nursing professor, Joe Gaugler, Ph.D., was awarded a $1.2 million dollar grant from the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to test ways to ease the challenges of being a caregiver, and hopefully keep memory loss patients in their homes longer.
The study will assess how technology can help people with memory loss live independently longer and reduce stress of their caregivers.
Sensors are placed in the home so that family and caregivers can monitor them remotely to establish normal activity levels based on a person’s daily patterns. The system detects significant behavioral changes in activities like sleep, movement, eating and other key indicators that can be signs of acute illness or worsening conditions.
Caregivers are alerted to changes in daily patterns, and can check in and respond appropriately.
The typical family caregiver is female, in her late 40s, with children of her own at home. She is often balancing demands of work, home and parenting with the care of a loved one with Alzheimer’s. This study aims to help the caregiver balance all of these pieces because they don’t have to be with the memory loss patient all day.
“Clearly, family members are core to the care that people with memory loss receive, and we know from research that if family caregivers are distressed, the people they care for are more likely to suffer from impaired quality of life or even earlier nursing home admission,” said Gaugler.
Gaugler hopes this study will show how technology can help people with memory loss conditions live independently longer by reducing stress of their caregivers.
If you are interested in participating in this study, click here.
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