Support our Nation’s Dementia Caregivers!

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month. As a volunteer advocate with the Alzheimer’s Association, I’ve made it my personal mission to be a voice for those in my community impacted by Alzheimer’s and dementia.

It’s no secret that Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease – but it also upends the lives of the 11 million family members and friends serving as caregivers (including nearly 200,000 in Kentucky). In 2020, our nation’s dementia caregivers provided an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care - a contribution to the nation valued at $257 billion. And these statistics can’t reflect the daily emotional, physical, and financial strain on each individual caregiver.

I empathize with the challenges Kentucky caregivers are facing. My mother has been fighting with Alzheimer’s for almost 14 years. While she stayed in the early stages for a significant period, she has now declined to the stage of needing a 24/7 caregiver. Being that caregiver is a full-time job that requires knowledge and patience. Additionally, it causes the roles of our relationship to switch. This creates greater confusion for her about who I am as well as intensifies the loss I am facing, as the person my mom once was slips further away.

This November and moving forward, I am humbly requesting Congress to do more to support our nation’s dementia caregivers. I ask that my U.S. Senators, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, pass the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Act (S. 56 / H.R. 1474), which will provide relief to caregivers, and support increases in Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding to eradicate this disease that has greatly impacted caregivers’ lives.

Please join me in asking Senators Paul and McConnell to make sure our caregivers can continue to care for their loved ones - and equally important, themselves!