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That was Deneen Day’s
experience as an Alzheimer’s caregiver with a mother in an
assisted living facility. For four months, Day saw her
mother decline. Tillie Day died on July 8, one week before
her 83rd birthday.
Since the
coronavirus pandemic began, people with Alzheimer’s and
dementia have been dying in numbers higher than the
five-year average for this time frame. According to Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention data, there have been at
least 31,047 more reported deaths due to Alzheimer’s or
another dementia through September.
That above average number far exceeds all other disease
categories reported by the CDC, according to an Alzheimer’s
Association analysis.
In Ohio, there
have been 1,164 deaths above the average through September
and that represents a 14 percent increase.
“This is alarming,” said Eric VanVlymen, Regional Leader for the
Alzheimer’s Association in Ohio. “We must continue to push
for the safety of people with Alzheimer’s both in the home
and in facilities because we know they are more at risk.”
Reasons for the increased deaths are varied and VanVlymen
said more analysis is needed to learn why. The Association
has created guidelines to help protect those living at home
from getting COVID-19 and guidelines to help long-term care
facilities. They can be found at:
https://www.alz.org/
“Our state has taken measures to help deal with this, but it
is terrible to see people with Alzheimer’s who already
suffer to actually be burdened even more as well as their
families,” VanVlymen said. He urged families with questions
about care that can help protect their loved ones to call
the Association’s 24/7 Helpline at 800.272.3900.
According to an AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 dashboard,
more than 33 percent of Ohio nursing
homes reported having less than a week's worth of PPE on
hand over the four-week period ending Sept.
20, and some 35 percent of Ohio nursing
homes also reported staffing shortages in direct care
workers during this period. Both were higher than national
averages.
Although Day said it was heartbreaking knowing she could not
directly help her mother the way that she did prior to
COVID-19, she was thankful for the staff and the hospice
nurse assigned to her mom, who tried to compensate for the
absence of family help. The staff “they became their family,
they became their daughters, they became everyone to them,”
Day said.
Currently 220,000 Ohioans
live with Alzheimer’s disease. Nationwide, according to the
2020 Alzheimer’s Disease
Facts and Figures report:
·
Forty-two percent of residents in residential care
facilities have Alzheimer’s or other dementias.
·
Forty-eight percent of nursing home residents have
Alzheimer’s or other dementias
“As an Association, we are
here to support Alzheimer’s caregivers whatever their
caregiving situation is,” said
Pamela
Myers, Program Director for the Alzheimer's
Association Northwest Ohio and Central Ohio Chapters.
“Imagine how you would feel if you thought your parent was
declining yet despite your strongest desires, you couldn’t
touch them or advocate strongly in person for them.”
To document her COVID-19
caregiver journey and to honor her mother, Day created a
five-minute video that started in March with window visits
at her mother’s assisted living facility and ended after she
died. “I wanted to be able to tell a story to honor others
going through this to say ‘I see you. I get it.’” What
people need to see and understand is “not just dying of
COVID but dying during COVID and what families are going
through,” she said.
The Alzheimer's
Association is the leading voluntary health organization in
Alzheimer's care, support and research. Our mission is to
eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of
research; to provide and enhance care and support for all
affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the
promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without
Alzheimer's®. Visit
www.alz.org or call
our 24/7 Helpline at 800.272.3900.
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