ACC Goes to DCAlzheimer’s Community Care Proposes National Model of Care to United States Senate Committee on Aging
West Palm Beach, FL – A United States Senate committee hearing to examine the finding of the Alzheimer’s Study Group and its recommendations for meeting the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease in the baby boom generation recently took place in Washington, D.C. Invited to testify on behalf of Alzheimer’s Community Care was Larry Butcher, Chair of the Board of Directors and loving husband of Jeannette who was diagnosed ten years ago with a form of Alzheimer’s disease.
Butcher spoke of his experience as a caregiver and the help he receives from Alzheimer’s Community Care. “Jeannette and I recently celebrated our 48th anniversary – but she didn’t know it and she didn’t know me. Once, this vibrant loving woman thrived on motherhood, family and our community. When she was first diagnosed, there was little support for us and good information was hard to find.” Almost by accident, at the lowest ebb of his life, he found Alzheimer’s Community Care and became enveloped by their “model of care.”
Alzheimer’s Community Care’s “model of care” provides therapeutic interventions targeted at community-based services by well-trained staff during the continuum of the disease process. It is one organization that works with both the patient and the caregiver every step of the way. Their specialized Alzheimer’s day services have been proven to reduce health care costs by providing health care monitoring, preventative health care and timely provision of primary care.
Results are unmatched. Caregivers live longer, hospital stays are far less than traditional government-funded models, and the need for medications for patients are lessened. Alzheimer’s Community Care’s model is cost effective, just under $1,500 a month per patient. By contrast, conventional institution care is $4,000 to $5,000 monthly.
Through this testimony, the hope is that the information will be used to develop a national model of care that could one day be instituted under the National Institute of Health. In attendance at the hearing as well, Mary Barnes, President and CEO of Alzheimer’s Community Care, said “the need is getting greater. As diagnostic capabilities become more sophisticated, and with an estimated 10 million baby boomers developing the disease in their lifetime, the impact of Alzheimer’s disease is of significant concern and one which Alzheimer’s Community Care is prepared to embrace."
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