Category Archives: Advocacy and Awareness

…What Life Throws At Us…

11 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Advocacy and Awareness, Blogging, Caregivers, Grieving, Inspiration, Life After Caregiving, Ruminations

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I’d like to thank my friends at The Ostrich Group way over yonder, across the pond, for having me as a guest on their blog this week. This piece looks at what happens when life doesn’t unfold quite the way we planned. As they say, sometimes bad things happen to good people… so, what then?

Every day, good people find themselves in various situations that they didn’t ask for and certainly don’t want. However, it’s how we handle those situations that makes all the difference in the world. I hope you’ll enjoy Twists, Turns, and Transformations.

 

The Numbers Tell the Story

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Advocacy and Awareness, Alzheimers.net, Facts & Figures, Research, Washington

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Thank you to our friends at Alzheimers.net for sharing this infographic that so simply, yet powerfully, illustrates the inequitable distribution of research funding. Consider the fact that our government is spending over $200 billion annually on care for Alzheimer’s and related forms of dementia, while the funds allocated for research equate to less than 1% of that number.

Bear in mind also that the recent study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology estimates total annual deaths resulting from Alzheimer’s and other dementias are likely over 500,000, which puts it right behind heart disease and cancer as the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Advocacy and Awareness, ALZ Assn - National, Beating Alzheimer's By Embracing Science (B.A.B.E.S), Facts & Figures, Fundraising, Helpful Resources, Research

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The 2014 Facts & Figures report recently released by the Alzheimer’s Association shines a bright spotlight on the fact that women are disproportionately affected by AD. Consider these statistics:

  • Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women.
  • A woman’s estimated lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer’s at age 65 is 1 in 6, compared with nearly 1 in 11 for a man.
  • As real a concern as breast cancer is to women’s health, women in their 60s are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s during the rest of their lives as they are to develop breast cancer.
  • More than 60 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers are women.
  • Nearly 19 percent of women Alzheimer’s caregivers had to quit work due to caregiving responsibilities.

Those numbers are staggering, so what can we, as women, do to make a difference?

I’d like to introduce you to Beating Alzheimer’s By Embracing Science (B.A.B.E.S), founded by Jamie Tyrone. This grassroots organization channels the power and energy of women who share a common passion – ending Alzheimer’s and other related forms of dementia. Continue reading →