According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 4.5 million Americans are presently living with Alzheimer’s Disease. Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia often requires a great deal of time and patience, and can cause great stress to the caregiver, particularly as memory loss progresses.
Alzheimer ‘s disease is progressive, so it often ends up with the afflicted needing total care, 24 hours-per-day. This is physically demanding for a family caregiver, a grown child taking care of her/his parent, or a spouse caring for his/her lifelong partner, etc. It’s also highly emotional as your loving relative may eventually see you as a total stranger, despite all the time and effort you’re devoting to their care and well-being.
Clearly, there’s a tremendous amount of stress on family caregivers. They often don’t have the time or energy to take care of their own health needs, which puts them at increased risk for chronic conditions like heart disease. However, a new study shows that even a moderate level of physical activity, done in and around the home, may help caregivers safeguard their health.
Researchers from Stanford University recruited 100 middle-aged and older women who spent at least 10 hours each week caring for a relative with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. Participants took tests assessing their physical and emotional health, sleep quality and response to stress. Half of the women were instructed to either walk briskly in their neighborhood or exercise in their homes for 30 minutes, four times a week. The other half received instruction on how to follow a low-fat, heart-healthy diet, but they were not required to exercise.
During the year-long study, the biggest improvements appeared to be in how participants dealt with stress. Both groups reported that depression was less of a problem, and the exercise group reported a marked improvement in the quality of their sleep.
There are a variety of resources support groups, wonderful organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association that can provide direction and advice. In addition, there are extremely informative web sites including www.caregiverstress.com, where you can take a personal stress test, and discover a wealth of resources to help you better understand and cope with your caregiving responsibilities.
For more information, or resources to help family caregivers, please call Home Instead Senior Care at 661-254-8701 or email charlenep@homeinstead.com .