23rd Annual Merrimack Valley Alzheimer Conference
March, 2011 – Lawrence, MA – The Merrimack Valley Alzheimer’s Partnership is hosting their 23rd Annual Merrimack Valley Alzheimer Conference on Saturday, April 30th from 8 – 1:00 pm held at the Wyndham Hotel, 123 Old River Road, Andover, MA. This year’s conference is themed “Your Caregiver Toolbox: Essential Resources”, and gears towards the caregiver developing their own toolbox of resources that will enable them to thrive, not just survive through caregiving.
The goal of the conference is to educate and provide long term benefits to caregivers to live happy and safe lives with their dependent loved ones. Presently in the U.S., there are 52 million family caregivers and 8.9 million of them are caring for someone with dementia. Unpaid family caregivers will most likely continue to be the largest source of long-term care services in the U.S. Renée Merritt, Elder Services’ Caregiver Manager and co-chair of the Alzheimer’s Conference 2011 says, “With family caregiving being such a huge part of American culture, ensuring the long-term health and success of our caregivers is a critical first step to ensuring a safe, loving and secure environment for our aging, declining population in need of care.” Joining the conference with more expertise is Dr. David Lennox, discussing behavioral incident prevention, and Jo Ann Jordan, discussing “The Care Journey: Making the Tough Times Easier”.
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Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley supports the conference because they recognized that with over 50% of caregivers working while caring for their loved ones, it is difficult to reach out for the assistance necessary. Most people who need long term care depend exclusively on their family and friends in order to remain at home. It is not a surprise that if the services provided by informal caregivers had to be replaced with paid services, it would cost an estimate of $257 billion dollars. This amount greatly exceeds the amount the U.S. spends annually on home health care, $32 Billion.
For more information on the conference, contact Renée Merritt, Elder Services’ Caregiver Manager, at rmerritt@esmv.org or 978-946-1321.
