November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month. The Alzheimer’s Association is recognizing and honoring the more than 15 million people across the U.S. who are currently caring for a person living with Alzheimer’s, including the 588,000 Alzheimer’s caregivers here in Illinois. According to a recent Alzheimer’s Association survey, people overwhelmingly agree (91 percent) that caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia should be a group effort among family or close friends, yet one out of three caregivers are not engaging others in caregiving tasks. This November during National Family Caregivers Month, the Alzheimer’s Association is encouraging people to lend a hand to caregivers with these tips:

Learn: Educate yourself about Alzheimer’s disease – its symptoms, its progression and the common challenges facing caregivers. The more you know, the easier it will be to find ways to help. The Alzheimer’s Association has a vast amount of resources and information available at www.alz.org.

Build a Team: The Alzheimer’s Association Care Team Calendar is a free, personalized online tool to organize family and friends who want to help with caregiving. This service makes it easy to share activities and information within the person’s care team. Helpers can sign up for specific tasks, such as preparing meals, providing rides or running errands. Users can post items for which assistance is needed. 

Check-In: Almost two out of every three caregivers said that feeling isolated or alone was a significant challenge in providing care for someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. What’s more, half of all caregivers felt like they couldn’t talk to anyone in social settings or work about what they were going through. So start the conversation – a phone call to check-in, sending a note, or stopping by for a visit can make a big difference in a caregiver’s day and help them feel supported.

Be Specific and Be Flexible: Open-ended offers of support (“call me if you need anything” or “let me know if I can help”) may be well-intended but are often dismissed. Try making your offer of help or support more specific (“I’m going to the store, what do you need?” or “I have free time this weekend, let me stopover for a couple of hours so you can do what you need to do.”) Don’t get frustrated if your offer of support is not immediately accepted. The family may need time to assess its needs. Continue to let the caregiver know that you are there and ready to help.