Gerontology & Geriatric Research

Abstract

Preparing for the Rise in Alzheimers Disease Cases: A Proposal for Training Support Personnel

Mark D Miller and Richard K Morycz

As the baby-boomer generation continues to age, the number of Alzheimer’s disease cases is expected to double in the next decade. The functional disability and need for clinical management associated with this trend will outstrip our current workforce. Making the correct diagnosis and prescribing cognitive enhancing drugs is relatively easy compared to the time and effort required to educate and support caregivers and help them cope with the complications of neurocognitive disorders such as depression, psychosis, agitation, and growing dependency for basic function [1]. Ninety five percent of these patients will be managed in home settings that will require time and effort from family members who are traditionally women that manage their own family with children as well as their aging parents, many of whom also work themselves to make ends meet financially. Social service agencies will therefore figure large in this equation to provide day care and in-home help. The traditional roles that social workers offer with aging adults (such as evaluating environment and functioning, assessing psychosocial support needs and how to fill them, exploring in-home assistance or alternate housing or placement options, as well as providing direct psychotherapy) are now needed more than ever [2]. Social workers are typically found playing these roles in hospitals, on inpatient psychiatry units, in multi-disciplinary geriatric care clinics, nursing homes and community-based social agencies that cater to the needs of elders.