1. health and fitness
2. disease

A L Z H E I M E R ’ S
O F
C E N T R A L
A L A B A M A
The Alzheimer’s Update
A LocAL Organization Helping LocAL Families
Spring 2015
Focus on Brain Health
Successful aging starts at a young age and
continues throughout life! Consider making
these healthy lifestyle choices:
Control the risk factors for Alzheimer’s by
managing diabetes, obesity, depression, heart
disease and high blood pressure.
Avoid the evil 3: poor diet, inactivity and
smoking. By eliminating the Evil 3 you can
decrease your risk of heart disease, stroke and
Type 2 diabetes which will lower your risk of
Alzheimer’s disease.
What is good for the
heart is good for the
brain! Nourish your
body, mind and soul.
Nourish your body!
Don’t be a couch
potato! Walk 30
minutes a day; do
aerobic activity and weight training. No
smoking! Stay trim by eating a balanced
diet. Limit alcohol. Take a daily vitamin.
Nourish your mind! Engage in mental
exercises like puzzles and word games. Try new
things and learn new skills. Talk to someone
other than your patient about something other
than caregiving every day.
Nourish your soul! Maintain a healthy,
positive attitude. Be engaged with others and
socialize. Nurture your spirit through religious
involvement and a spiritual life that has
meaning for you. Manage your stress. Try a
daily dose of vitamin H – Humor. Laugh and
play every day!
Sit down at the table and eat colorful dark
skinned fruits and vegetables; vitamin E rich
foods like blackberries and spinach; beta
carotene rich foods like broccoli and sweet
potatoes; whole grains; omega 3 fatty acids
like salmon and sardines; antioxidants
like blueberries and walnuts.
Push away from the table and avoid
fried foods, processed foods, salt,
added sugars, saturated fats, transfatty acids and red meat.
See your doctors regularly
for cardiovascular and diabetes
screenings, depression evaluation,
tobacco cessation, and detection of
cognitive impairment.
Too often caregivers give up time with family
and friends and recreational activities. This
can lead to problems like fatigue, difficulty
sleeping, weight gain or loss, headaches,
back pain.
ACA’s New Ministry
music ministry for community dwelling
Alzheimer’s patients and their families. Music
can reduce the often hopeless isolation of
dementia by creating moments of joy and
opportunities for playful engagement. With
funding from the Alabama Department of
Senior Services, the project, iComfort: Listening
to Remember, uses personalized iPods especially
created for patients.
ACA Provides:
• Scholarships for 50 patients to
attend adult day care each month
• Continence supplies for 80 patients
each month
• Funding for 22 research grants
Imagine - music inspiring memory. Alzheimer’s
of Central Alabama (ACA) and Dawson Baptist
Church are collaborating to create a special
alzca.org
The reaction of the patients, when they hear the
music they love, is powerful. Music can spark
recognition and reduce behavioral symptoms.
By giving families living with dementia the tools
to incorporate music into their daily routine, we
hope to reduce caregiver burden and improve
quality of life. ACA and church volunteers have
collected CDs from all music genres. Caregivers
can select the types of music they feel will have
the biggest impact. Research has shown that
personalized music playlists, heard on iPods
have the capacity to transform quality of life
205.871.7970 or 866.806.7255
Support your brain and physical health by
staying connected to family and friends,
staying physically active, asking for help when
needed, finding time to relax, and nurturing
your spiritual life!
Adapted from the Alzheimer’s Foundation
of America.
ACA Development
Campaign
These generous donors have
demonstrated exceptional leadership
and support through their gifts and
commitments. These gifts are pledges
from September 2014 to March 2015.
Named endowment gifts &
Legacy gifts ($25,000 level
& above):
C. Phillip McWane
Anne and Mike Warren
Legacy Gift Club or planned
gifts ($1,000 level & above):
Ruth and Charles Ash
Nancy and Steven Chazen
Sally and Richard Friedman
William Goodrich
Brenda Hackney
Sheryl and Jonathan Kimerling
DeDe and David Pittman
Annual Campaign Leadership
Donors ($1,000 & above):
Judy and Hal Abroms
Christy and Allen Baynes
Christine Clark
Lyndra Daniel
William Engel
Nancy and Glenn Goedecke
Jillian and Michael Goodrich
Kathryn Harbert
Sarah and Mike Harfield
Marion Head
Ronne and Donald Hess
Susan and Tom Lowder
Nancy and Murray Smith
for patients struggling with Alzheimer’s and
dementia.
Dawson Baptist Church has also started a
special choir for patients, The Unforgettables,
which will meet for 13 weeks of rehearsal
prior to a public performance. Alzheimer’s
is a long term illness, which challenges us to
find creative solutions for caregivers. Because
music is profoundly linked to emotion, this
new outreach ministry is a perfect solution for
soothing the soul.
To volunteer, or if you have a loved one who
would benefit from this ministry, contact ACA.
facebook.com/alzca
ALZHEIMER’S OF CENTRAL ALABAMA
Garden Art Party
Alzheimer’s in
Alabama: Present
and Future
Saturday, May 9, 2015
7:00 - 10:00 p.m. • Iron City
513 22nd Street South 35233
Friday, July 17
ACA’s Annual Conference for Caregivers
Friday, July 17, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Dawson Baptist Church
Tickets
(205) 871-7970
or www.alzca.org
Call for more information or look for details
on our website as the date gets closer.
Our 2015 Corporate Sponsors
ALZHEIMER’S
OF CENTRAL
ALABAMA
Post Office Box 2273
Birmingham, Alabama 35201-2273
(205) 871-7970
www.alzca.org
Non-profit org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 1564
Birmingham, AL
Located at:
300 Office Park Drive, Suite 225
Birmingham, Alabama 35223
Wandering: A Common Danger
Getting lost and wandering are perhaps the
two most dangerous behavioral symptoms of
Alzheimer’s and dementia. Caregivers often
underestimate the risk. Sixty percent of patients
wander, and those who do tend to do so
repeatedly. As patients progress from needing
supervision to custodial care, caregivers often
struggle with strategies to curtail wandering
because of a reluctance to take away the
patient’s independence.
The dire consequences of getting lost while
driving should motivate every caregiver to
curtail driving before an accident happens. Jean
lived in a neighborhood north of Birmingham
and was only driving to “safe places,” like the
beauty shop. One Saturday morning she drove
off to get her hair done. Her family was notified
hours later that she had been pulled over driving
on the wrong side of the road 125 miles away!
alzca.org
It was astonishing that she hadn’t caused an
accident. It was a football Saturday and she
had driven straight through all the Tuscaloosa
football traffic!
Another caregiver would frequently leave her
husband in the car when she ran errands.
Telling him to wait until she returns is a foolish
strategy. He can’t remember instructions and
doesn’t have a concept of time. You shouldn’t
leave a dementia patient in a car or in the house
any more than you should leave a child. It’s not
a safe practice!
Since the first of the year at least two patients
have wandered from home and have not
been found in time. What a tragedy for these
families! In both cases the patients were found
within shouting distance of their homes.
Securing the home with deadbolt locks or locks
at the top of the door frame and out of site can
205.871.7970 or 866.806.7255
help. Alarms that sound when the door opens
or bells attached to the door knob can also alert
the caregiver if the patient has gotten out.
ACA partners with the Jefferson County
Sheriff ’s Department and the Alabama
State Troopers to provide Project Lifesaver
bracelets for patients at risk for wandering in
Jefferson County. The bracelet emits a radio
tracking signal. It is not a GPS system and is not
for patients who are still driving. The program is
available in 58 of Alabama’s 67 counties.
For more tips to prevent wandering and for
more about Project Lifesaver contact ACA.
facebook.com/alzca