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Expert Alzheimer's Consultant: Solutions, Support, and Guidance

Expert Alzheimer's Consultant: Solutions, Support, and Guidance

The main role of an Alzheimer's consultant is to assist and support individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease. This includes families who are struggling to cope with the demands placed on them when they care for a relative with Alzheimer's, as well as the person with the disease. During their work, Alzheimer's consultants often find that the person with Alzheimer's may have gone undiagnosed. They use their evaluation, supervisory, and management skills to offer respite and education to the families of people with Alzheimer's. Often, Alzheimer's consultants will also be required to run support groups. This may involve helping families look at how they can access support services within and related to social care, health services, and police services. The role of the Alzheimer's consultant can be extremely difficult as their job demand that they visit the person struggling with Alzheimer's disease in their own home; this is seeing someone when they are most vulnerable and often in pain. In essence, Alzheimer's Consultants support and maintain the well-being of both the person and their family networks. This means that they are able to offer knowledge, experience, and empowerment to the carers.

Services Provided by an Alzheimer's Consultant

Assessment and Diagnosis

Part of the work that Alzheimer's consultants do is to facilitate the assessment and diagnosis process. When individuals or their family members contact Alzheimer's consultants, the consultant is likely to conduct an assessment of the current situation before any other services are provided. The consultant may also assist with obtaining a diagnosis or even take the lead in coordinating and facilitating the assessment and diagnostic process. By seeing the situation through, the consultant helps to solidify their role as an ally, advocate, and advisor. By coordinating and overseeing both assessment and diagnostic phases, Alzheimer's consultants ensure respect and understanding of client and family needs and concerns throughout an inherently stressful adjustment. Parkinson's, Huntington's, and other Lewy Body Dementias will be included in the discussion as they have ES qualities that often co-exist in Alzheimer's and other dementias. Factoring co-morbidities here gives the client a holistic approach to dealing with structural changes in their family's lives. It is presented as a family-systems issue as a whole. LSW, MSW, LCSW, DSW, and PhD therapies are therapy-specific. This program will offer CASE, and NASW continuing education credits.

Care Planning and Coordination

Services such as patient needs assessment, adult day care, respite care, or accessing Meals on Wheels provide support to caregivers. This represents a crucial component of care planning-being aware of and linking caregiver(s) to available resources and supports within local communities. Many local support groups and day programs exist that can take on some of the care tasks, thereby relieving some of the burden on the family.

alzheimers consultant

Education and Training

Alzheimer's consultants are trained to provide education and training to help address the needs of individuals and families impacted by Alzheimer's disease. They can help educate families about the disease itself, what to expect, as well as general skills training to provide the best care for the affected individual. They may also train families how to use certain specific methods or devices. If new caregivers are hired, the consultant may orient them to the environment of working with individuals with the disease. When necessary, they may also educate individuals with Alzheimer's disease about the disease itself, for example, if they are in the early stages of the disease. Some consultants also involve family members in dementia care. For example, they will train family members to give different medications and manage any behavioral symptoms that might arise from the medication. As part of the educational component, they may organize large conferences and small support groups for individuals and families dealing with the disease.

Support for Caregivers

Consultants also provide support to the entire team of caregivers. Mostly, they are family members of the individual with dementia. Consultants work on bringing the group of caregivers together to help them understand that the person they are caring for may have many moods and will change over time. Consultants can offer education on how to communicate with the person with dementia and help them understand how dementia affects the individual. We explain techniques that can be used to make coming into contact and communication more successful. This can help the relationship between the caregiver and the person cared for. Our goal is to help the caregivers address the person cared for with respect and to maintain their relationship and satisfaction in caring for them.

Benefits of Hiring an Alzheimer's Consultant

Personalized Care and Support

The plan is to provide personalized care and carry out the activities that they have previously enjoyed - the activities that have made them individuals. Depending on the stage of the illness, this should include activities such as gardening and going for a walk as both will keep them active in aiding both the physical and social aspects. To apply for this support, you would require a good understanding of the individual and background knowledge of the family and the case. Furthermore, you will also need the initiative and the drive to provide support and to want to do the best you can for the individual.

Expertise in Alzheimer's Disease

An Alzheimer's consultant who has worked with people who have this illness knows about the most up-to-date research and treatments. It is important for people who work with those who have Alzheimer's to know the ins and outs of this disease and to be patient with the patients who are in the later stages. The Alzheimer's consultant knows how to communicate with someone who is having a hard time speaking or remembering something. They must also have experience in how the progress of Alzheimer's can vary from person to person. Different treatments or practices work better for one person than another.

Improved Quality of Life for the Patient and Caregivers

Alzheimer's consultants perform a variety of roles, with the main aim of improving the quality of life for the patient and caregivers. Since these are critical periods for both parties, the consultant must help in easing the situation for the best results for both parties. However, it is known that elderly patients or those suffering from Alzheimer's do not easily warm up to change, which could be quite a barrier for those in need of an Alzheimer's consultant. For this reason, the services offered by the consultant must provide several advantages or even improvements to the patient and caregivers for them to accept the situation. Improving the patient's and caregivers' quality of life is multifaceted.

Bibliography

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  2. Liss, J. L., Seleri Assunção, S., Cummings, J., Atri, A., Geldmacher, D. S., Candela, S. F., ... & Sabbagh, M. N. (2021). Practical recommendations for timely, accurate diagnosis of symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (MCI and dementia) in primary care: a review and synthesis. Journal of internal medicine, 290(2), 310-334. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/joim.13244)

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  4. Contreras, M., Mioshi, E., & Kishita, N. (2022). What are the educational and support needs of family carers looking after someone in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease? A qualitative retrospective approach. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(5), 1726-1734. (https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80983/1/Accepted_Manuscript.pdf)

  5. Villars, H., Cantet, C., de Peretti, E., Perrin, A., Soto-Martin, M., & Gardette, V. (2021). Impact of an educational programme on Alzheimer's disease patients' quality of life: results of the randomized controlled trial THERAD. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 13(1), 1-17. (https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-021-00896-3)

  6. Landeiro, F., Mughal, S., Walsh, K., Nye, E., Morton, J., Williams, H., ... & ROADMAP consortium. (2020). Health-related quality of life in people with predementia Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment or dementia measured with preference-based instruments: a systematic literature review. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 12, 1-14. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13195-020-00723-1)