During November, join me in asking our U.S. Senators and Rep. Massie to support dementia caregivers.
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month.
As a volunteer advocate with the Alzheimer’s Association, I’ve made it my personal mission to be a voice for those in my community impacted by Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Terri’s parents Evelyn and Roger Coleman
It’s no secret that Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease – but it also upends the lives of the 11 million family members and friends serving as caregivers (including nearly 200,000 in Kentucky).
In 2020, our nation’s dementia caregivers provided an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care – a contribution to the nation valued at $257 billion. And these statistics can’t reflect the daily emotional, physical and financial strain on each individual caregiver.
I understand the challenges Kentucky caregivers are facing. My mom and I are the primary caregivers for my father, handling the day-to-day medical, emotional and overall support.
Each person suffering with dementia requires more than two people for support. My entire family steps up on a regular basis to make sure my dad is taken care of and my mom gets time to take care of herself. When my dad was given his diagnosis in 2017, the neurologist told us ‘this disease often kills caregivers before the patient.’ It was a chilling statement that made us all want to be part of the support team.
This November and moving forward, I am humbly requesting Congress to do more to support our nation’s dementia caregivers. I ask that my U.S. Senators, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, and Congressman Thomas Massie pass the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Act (S. 56 / H.R. 1474), which will provide relief to caregivers, and support increases in Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding to eradicate this disease that has greatly impacted caregivers’ lives.
Please join me in asking Senators Paul and McConnell and Representative Massie to make sure our caregivers can continue to care for their loved ones – and equally important, themselves.
Terri Burke is Volunteer Advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association and a caregiver to her father. She lives in Ludlow. Her parents live in Villa Hills.
Amazing LTE by our very own ALZ Ambassador Terri!