Relationships with those with Alzheimer’s disease

June 30, 7:51 AMChicago Asian Community ExaminerSara Lugardo

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Many things were learned at the AARP conference held June 8-10 in Chicago this year entitled, “Diversity and Aging in the 21st Century: The Power of Inclusion.”

The Alzheimer’s Association stated that Alzheimer’s accounts for 50 to 70 percent of all dementia cases.

This fact directly affects the Asian community because Keiro Senior HealthCare states that one in five Japanese Americans are over the age of 65, which is twice the national average.

The conference showed that as the Japanese American community acknowledges its’ rapid aging population, caregivers are encouraged to reassess the way they interact with loved ones.

Michael Cheang, an assistant professor of family and consumer services at the University of Hawaii, recently gave an interview to Nichi Bei Times where he stated relationships younger adults have with their older loved ones should be like a partnership instead of a caregiver-receiver type of relationship.

He also said that as the disease progresses simple things can be done to help keep the relationship as well as help prolong the severity of the condition.

Helpful tips:
• Cook favorite dishes
• Put effort into presentation to encourage them to eat
• Do things they liked to do before the disease progressed

Since hearing is the last sense to go, playing songs from their generation is a great way to still engage with your loved one. Also, Cheang suggests that touch is very important when verbal and visual communication no longer works.

“It’s a basic human element. We all love to be touched, hugged, to feel secure,” Michael Cheang.

Photo by: April L. Brown / AP