Hotline helps families, friends of Alzheimer's patients
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
A new national hotline is providing 24-hour help for families and others caring for Alzheimer's patients.
Ann Brehm, a volunteer with the Aloha chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, said she wishes the service had been available to her grandfather in Missouri when he was helping care for her grandmother through 13 years of coping with the disease.
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"I know my grandmother would be up in the middle of the night and sometimes she wouldn't know who he was," Brehm said. She would tell her husband of 60-plus years that she was going to "get in trouble with her father for going to bed with a strange man."
In the past, only one social worker at a time would be on call for the whole state, said Janet Eli, executive director of the Hawai'i chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Now people can get help in 130 languages at any time, through the hotline, which began operations March 1.
Eli said about 20,000 people in Hawai'i have Alzheimer's, up from 14,000 just 10 years ago. The number is expected to grow significantly with the state's rapidly aging population.
The true number probably is not known because doctors are not required to report the disease, and many people avoid talking openly about the disease in the same way they used to whisper about cancer, Eli said.
The association works to try to reduce that stigma.
"So many families try to handle this by themselves," Eli said. "People are so devastated by this disease. They're seeing a little of their loved one die each day."
She said it helps to let people know that others can help with advice, understanding and support, as well as reminding them that they are dealing with a brain disease.
Although the disease affects only 1 in 10 adults age 65 and older, it affects almost half of those 85 and older, Eli said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
