Alzheimer's Caregivers: 10 Things Friends and Family Members Can Do to Lighten Your Load

The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 15 million family members, friends and neighbors are currently providing 17 billion hours of care annually to Alzheimer's patients.

Caregivers pay a high price. Their experience significantly increases their emotional stress, jeopardizes their physical and mental health, and can negatively impact their employment and finances.

Alzheimer's patients, especially those in the mid and late stages, require around the clock care and no one can do that alone.

If you're the primary caregiver of an Alzheimer's loved one it's important to ask for help for two reasons. First, simply to preserve your own well-being, and second, because you can't provide good care for your loved one if you're exhausted all the time.

Many caregivers are reluctant to ask for help. They often feel they should be able to do it all and they don't want to impose upon others. The fact of the matter, however, is that most people are happy to help you, they just don't know what to do.

The first step in getting help is for you to sit down and figure out what tasks other people could do that would be helpful to you. As simple as this sounds sometimes it's not easy to determine what specific help we need.

A good way to start is to create a written list of some of the chores, errands or other things you are currently doing that could potentially be done by someone else. Then you can assign names of possible helpers to each task. After that contact each person on the list and simply ask if they would be willing to do that particular task.

Here are 10 examples of very specific ways friends and family members can help you out:

Do the laundry
Help clean the house
Cook a meal
Mow the lawn
Make minor home repairs
Pick up the patient's medicines from the pharmacy
Take your loved one to a doctor's appointment or other appointments
Take your loved one out for a drive
Come over for coffee and just be there for you as you talk about your feelings
Most important, look after your loved one for a few hours so you can have some time to yourself
So the next time someone says, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," have a specific request ready for them. You might be surprised at the positive responses you'll get.

OTHER RESOURCES. Please visit http://www.ComeBackEarlyToday.com to sign up for a free newsletter containing tips for Alzheimer's caregivers. You'll also find a link to purchase Dr. Marley's latest book, Come Back Early Today, which illustrates fresh approaches to the numerous heartbreaking problems that arise when caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's.

You can also visit The Alzheimer's Association at http://www.alz.org

Alzheimer's Caregiving: How to Ask for Help, an article published on the Mayo Clinic's web site ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-caregiver/AZ00018 ).

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