Interacting with Alzheimer’s Patients

BY CONNIE PIGNATARO

According to the 2010 U.S. census, the older population (65 years and older) increased at a faster rate (15.1 percent) than the total U.S. population (9.7 percent). The first wave of Baby Boomers reached retirement age last year, and over the next 20 years, 74 million Baby Boomers will retire. Unlike their parents, this generation will be more active. They exercise twice as much as previous generations.1 This more active lifestyle, along with improved treatment and prevention information, has already contributed to the declining mortality rates of most major diseases such as stroke, HIV, breast cancer, and heart disease between 2000 and 2008, but deaths from Alzheimer's disease have risen to an alarming 66 percent during the same time period. Currently, one in eight older Americans (5.2 million) has Alzheimer's disease, and it is estimated that by 2050, 16 million people in this country will suffer with Alzheimer's.2

Emergency medical service (EMS) responders will find that more and more future patients will have Alzheimer's or a related dementia. Not only must we understand this disease to provide quality care to our patients with Alzheimer's, but we must also understand the burden that this disease places on loved ones, caregivers, the community, and our economy.