Conference for Alzheimer’s disease talks care while finding cure

JACKSON, Tenn. — In its sixth year, caretakers are learning how to cope with a loved one dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Right now, it’s the leading cause of death, and it continues to grow. In fact, it’s growing by leaps and bounds and passing things like heart disease, cancers, and things like that,” Regina Smith with West Tennessee Healthcare’s Senior Services said.

Teepa Snow has been speaking at this conference since it first started and says seven out of 10 people who have some form of dementia get diagnosed with it too late.

“People think normal aging and dementia is confusing, and it is until you start to learn more about the differences,” Snow, an occupational therapist and dementia care and education specialist, said. “When you see significant sudden changes, we should get really curious about that because it may not be dementia, but it’s not normal aging.”

Snow also said Dementia is typically paired with other medical conditions, such as arthritis or diabetes, and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Many will also have vision changes and develop cataracts.

It’s all about learning how to balance the needs of an Alzheimer’s patient and can be very draining on caretakers. That’s why there are conferences like this one.

“As a community, this conference is a kickoff and it’s an opportunity to start empowering the community to make different choices, and you have an incredible resource system here. It’s just putting it all together,” Snow said.

West Tennessee Healthcare says three more events like this one will be hosted this year.