Alzheimer's Sampler

Alzheimer's Sampler

TheCareGivingLife.com is a website for the heroes in the fight against chronic disease like congestive heart failure, COPD, and type II diabetes: Our caregivers.

TheCareGivingLife trains home health workers and family caregivers in the everyday clinical skills they need to manage chronic disease, keeping patients stable and out of the hospital.

21 million Americans are home-bound with advanced chronic diseases. They need to follow doctors’ orders, take their medications, change their clothes, use the toilet, or even walk safely across a room without help. It is no exaggeration to say that, without the help of home health workers and family caregivers, many could not survive.

While these 21 million advanced chronic disease sufferers are only 5% of American patients, they consume 50% of American healthcare dollars. There is opportunity for hope though: A full 38% of those costs could be avoided with effective daily disease management - by our home health workers and family caregivers.

Beyond help with personal care, paraprofessional and family caregivers are increasingly responsible for the complex, difficult job of managing diseases. Essential aspects of disease management, like medication administration and warning sign recognition, must be performed every day to avoid potentially fatal consequences - and caregivers are the only people who see advanced chronic disease patients every day.

Many caregivers spend as many as 24 hours a day with their patients. The tedium can be awful, and their own isolation profound. Sleep deprivation is not unusual. They contend daily with the pressure of potentially catastrophic consequences for even seemingly minor mistakes, along with the physical burdens of cleaning and moving disabled patients, some of whom weigh as much as 350 pounds.

TheCareGivingLife.com first recognizes the profound value of these American heroes, and sends them the message that, with our support, they are not alone.

Just as importantly, TheCareGivingLife.com offers caregivers the training they need to address dreaded diseases every day, promoting the sort of effective, daily disease management that will minimize unnecessary suffering and cost.

– The Team at TheCareGivingLife

Programs about Alzheimer's Disease

TheCareGivingLife trains home health workers and family caregivers in the everyday clinical skills they need to manage chronic disease, keeping patients stable and out of the hospital.

21 million Americans are home-bound with advanced chronic diseases…
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An older couple sitting on the bench of a city bus shelter

The Follower

THE FOLLOWER is a short movie about Patti and Jerry, a married couple contending with Alzheimer’s disease. THE FOLLOWER is about loss and sadness. But it is also about a married couple who remember not just who they were, but who they still are: Two people, married for many years, who haven’t forgotten “the real meaning of true love.”
An older couple standing on the sidewalk, kissing.

Patti & Jerry: Life with Alzheimer’s on the Horizon

Meet the real Patti and Jerry. We met them when Patti answered an ad for actresses to play a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. She wrote: “I’m Patti. My mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for many years. I carry the gene. I would love to act for The CareGiving Life, and so would my husband Jerry!” Meet this wonderful couple. Root for them. And witness that being in love is more than just romance.
A caregiver re-positions an older female patient in bed, while checking for bed sores.

Kindness and Respect

Americans live in a culture that celebrates success, vanity & winning. Many family caregivers & home health workers feel as if they are stuck inside a sick house looking out at a world where everybody else gets all the fun, friends and money. But caregivers quietly possess something else: Humility & love. They give companionship to the lonely and compassion to those in pain. KINDNESS AND RESPECT offers them a simple, “Thank you.”

Acts of Grace

ACTS OF GRACE is a film series that offers short narrative films & documentaries about caregiving for patients, who are often relatives, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As you might expect, these films explore the trials & heartbreak of Alzheimer’s disease. But, we think, even more importantly, they celebrate the kindness, compassion & determination of caregivers.
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