There was a warm smile on the face of Winsome Brown as she rushed through the door of Garry’s Grill for a bite with a friend between clients in spite of the fact she was running late. Slightly out of breath, Brown explained she was late because she’d been looking for an Alzheimer’s client’s missing cat that they finally found in the attic.
Brown, the co-owner of a Millersville-based business with her sister called Lean On Dee Senior Care Advocates which manages in-home care for Alzheimer’s patients, is quite busy, seeing six clients each day. Nevertheless, she has organized a virtual event scheduled for October 27 from 11 am to 1:30 pm called “The Long Walk” that is being hosted online by the Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce.
She is being joined for the event by Dr. Alden Gross, Maryanna Lanham, and Casey Bryant.
Gross, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health focuses on cognitive aging and mental health among older adults. He’s the ideal person to address the clinical aspects of Alzheimer’s.
Lanham, from Athenia Financial Services, LLC, will join the discussion to outline the costs associated with caring for an Alzheimer’s patient – whether at home with proper medical attention or in an assisted living memory care facility. She’ll address insurance and costs for long-term care (which can run to $9,000 per month plus expenses) and other treatment options for clients that supplement in-home care.
Bryant, the principal attorney and owner of The Law Office of Casey L. Bryant, will highlight the insurance and legal issues faced by families of Alzheimer’s patients. She’ll touch on documents required for admission to assisted living facilities and legalities involved in being granted “medical power of attorney”.
Brown, a Community Educator for the Greater Maryland Alzhemier’s Association will be acquainting participants with the 10 signs leading to a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s as well as the latest studies and treatment options. Her personal experience as an Alzheimer’s patient caregiver gives her in-depth insight into how best to manage her clients.
After working in New York’s financial sector for over twenty years, she was unexpectedly thrust into the role of a caregiver for her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2010.
The sudden pressure to make life-altering choices on her mother’s behalf, without being prepared to do so, forever shaped her views about our health system and what was needed for seniors and caregivers.
Soon, Brown and her sister Dee, a registered nurse, formed Lean On Dee Senior Care Advocates, serving as Certified Senior Advisors and Certified Dementia Live Coaches and Caregivers. As demand for Lean on Dee’s services grows, the sisters work to bring peace of mind, resources, and education to families that find themselves in need.
Brown, Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber CEO Liz League, and Lanham came up with the event’s name “The Long Walk” because the disease can be ongoing for 10 to 15 years, Brown said she’ll describe the Alzheimer’s experience through the eyes of a family. She’ll explain the difference between forgetfulness due to normal aging and dementia associated with problems ranging from memory loss and problem solving issues to not recognizing time, days, dates or seasons, occasional paranoia and other problems.
“The whole point of our business is to hold on to these people’s soul even if they can’t remember everything you do with them,” Brown said. “One client loves to play pool. He can’t remember that we played pool ten times in a row but he is excited each time and it makes him happy.”
Keeping clients engaged in life is important to Brown. She has one patient, for example, who loves to build things. Brown has him build birdhouses but he isn’t good at decorating them. She has another patient who loves to paint. When her “builder” finishes a birdhouse, Brown passes it on to her “artist” client to decorate. Both are very happy to be doing something they love.
For information on Lean On Dee Senior Care Advocates, visit https://www.leanondee.com/ .
Jing Ying Team plans to “Kick Alzheimer’s to the Curb on Sunday
For the fourth year Nancy and Billy Greer, the owners of Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi, are gathering a team for the “Kick Alzheimer’s to the Curb” walk this Sunday, October 18 at noon. As always, the walk will be dedicated to the memory of Nancy’s mother Cora Willard who had the disease.
Thanks to loving care from her husband Glenn and visits from Nancy and Billy every weekend, Cora was able to remain in her Northern Virginia home until one week before she passed away at a nursing facility.
Nancy comments that she was always happy spending those weekends with her mom -sometimes putting on music so they could dance or taking her parents for dinner at a local Ledo’s where they were known to the staff and treated royally.
She mentioned how difficult it was seeing her mother go through the different phases of Alzheimer’s – especially the scariest one when she failed to recognize her husband and had a fear “of that stranger living in the house”.
Following her mother’s death in October of 2017, Nancy and Billy did their first Alzheimer’s fundraising walk in downtown Annapolis. Nancy was Team Captain and they raised $11,000. They raised similar sums of money over the next two years. All told, their walks have raised $30,000 for research, care and support of Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers.
“Because of COVID-19, this year’s walk will be different and smaller,” Nancy said. “We’ll gather at Jing Ying Institute at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Arnold for a virtual opening ceremony and then “Kick Alzheimer’s to the Curb” by walking circuits around our building.”
For information about Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi, to make a donation to the Kick It to the Curb fundraiser, or to check out their Drive-By Halloween Celebration on October 31, visit http://www.jingying.org/.
