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The expensive cost of caring for Alzheimer's patients
Photo credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr. | Charles Tang, 84, Manhattan
Takes care of his wife, Amy, 76, at home
Until recently, Charles Tang had enough confidence in his wife Amy’s memory that he would let her walk by herself the short distance to the adult day program in their neighborhood that she had been attending for several years. But when she went missing for more than two hours one day, Tang started following his wife to make sure she didn’t get lost. It’s just one of several new duties that Tang struggles with on a daily basis. He has had to learn to cook and make sure his wife washes and changes her clothes, all while keeping her from becoming agitated. If he were younger, it would be easier to pick up these new habits, he said, but at his age, it’s been difficult.
“To serve her, it’s lots of stress,” Tang said. “Sometimes I can hardly take it. She’s become an entirely different person. It’s stressful to deal with her."
(Sept. 17, 2009)
Paying for Care
The costs of long-term care for Alzheimer's patients can easily deplete even the deepest bank account. Because the disease lasts so long - anywhere from two to 20 years, depending on the stage at diagnosis - and because the type of care needed often falls beyond the scope of government health care programs, families find themselves scrambling to find the money needed to maintain...
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