Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients suffer, sometimes to death

It's common to hear about diseases like Alzheimer's drastically affecting the lives of those who have it, often causing severe struggles and hardships. What you may not hear much about is how caregivers of people with Alzheimer's can also suffer deeply and greatly.

Jim Crabtree was actually relieved to find out that his wife and mother had been shot and killed by his father who then shot and killed himself, Linda Carroll of NBC News reports. (Today show photo: Crabtree with his wife, Rita)

"Crabtree had been struggling" to care for his 62-year old wife, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years before, and his elderly parents: a father with dementia and a mother with crippling arthritis.

Crabtree said he felt stretched thin with the responsibility of caring for his family and that by killing them, his father actually got rid of the burdens they caused him all at once, Carroll reports.

"Although rare, there are other murder-suicide cases involving caregivers and their charges. It’s a sign of how stressful the job is," Linda Ercoli, director of geriatric psychology at the Semel Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles said in the story.

The Alzheimer's Association has created a test for caregivers to check their stress levels. 

Carroll describes how caregivers' emotions can range from helplessness to anger when they don't understand that certain annoying behaviors by their ill patients could be symptoms of the disease. Because of high emotions that can arise in a home with Alzheimer's patients, Ercoli explains that violence isn't uncommon. Studies have found that 5 percent of caregivers have been violent with their patients and 16 percent of patients have been violent with their caregivers.

Caregivers at first get a certain satisfaction from taking care of others, but as the disease progresses, they tend to suffer from deep depression, anxiety or other disorders, Ercoli explains. Also, Carroll adds, caregivers sometimes face the risk of becoming physically sick themselves. 

Experts say that caregivers should reach out more to each other for support. “People don’t say, ‘I survived Alzheimer’s’,” Crabtree said. “We are the survivors. I survived caregiving.”

No-Hit zones in place in pediatric wards of Kosair and U of L children's hospitals

Health professionals and other employees at Kosair Children's Hospital and the University of Louisville pediatrics unit were given an unusual tool this week when it was announced that their facilities are now No-Hit Zones. A program developed to maintain a calm, safe and caring environment for children and their parents, the No-Hit Zone initiative works to educate staffers on how to keep everyone on the ward safe from those who would lose their tempers while everyone around them is already in a stressful situation.

The policy is quite clear. No adult shall hit another adult. No adult shall hit a child. No child can hit an adult. And no child can hit another child while in the hospital environment.

The Kosair Children's, Kosair Children's-Brownsboro and U of L hospitals are now among only 30 children’s hospitals nationwide to implement the No-Hit Zone program. The Louisville effort has been led by Erin Frazier, M.D., FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics at the Uof L Children & Youth Project, and the Kosair Children’s Hospital Child Abuse Task Force, which Dr. Frazier chairs.

To learn about the No-Hit Zone, go here.

New law will allow officers to make arrests in emergency-room assaults that they do not witness

Emergency-room workers who treat individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol will have greater legal protection, and those who misbehave in ERs will have less protection, under a law that will take effect next month.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, will allow peace officers to make an arrest or issue a citation for a fourth-degree assault that occurs in a hospital emergency room, even if the officer didn’t witness the crime, as long as the officer has probable cause to believe the offense occurred.

“Hospital emergency personnel treat individuals in the worst of conditions – and sometimes that means putting themselves at risk, if a patient comes in intoxicated or high,” Gov. Steve Beshear said at a ceremonial signing of the bill today.  “This law gives medical staff the security of knowing that an offender will be held accountable for an assault that takes place when they’re brought in for care.”

Under current law, a hospital worker has to swear out a warrant alleging assault. Fourth-degree assault is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.

Workshop Aug. 4-5 will help health groups with policy, programs

A two-day workshop intended to help health coalitions and organizations make progress at the policy level and implement evidence-based programs will begin Aug. 4.

On the first day, speaker Monte Roulier of Community Initiatives will speak about the art and science of building health and whole communities. On the second day, speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will demonstrate how to use The Community Guide, a free resource that offers guidance on what programs and policies are evidence-based for obesity, mental health, asthma, tobacco, substance abuse, violence and other health issues.

The workshop is part of the "Health for a Change: Ignite — Unite — Act" series, a program of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. It starts at 10 a.m. Aug. 4 and ends at 4 p.m. Aug. 5. at the Hurstbourne Place Office Building in Louisville. To register, click here.