Alzheimer’s Buddy Program Blends Personal Bonding with Education
Exceptional Alzheimer’s care is often a blend of bonding with the person who needs care and educating the caregiver about how best to help the person with the disease.
To this end, a visionary initiative called The Buddy Program, which pairs medical students with Alzheimer’s patients, was developed by the Northwestern University Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago. The students and their “buddies” go on outings and participate in various activities during the academic year. Each doctor-patient duo also attends monthly group meetings and educational seminars about Alzheimer’s care.
The Buddy Program builds on a fundamental truth about relationships and human connection and has since been replicated in Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Hampshire.
According to Beth Kallmyer, MSW, Alzheimer’s Association Vice President of Constituent Services, “The Buddy Program helps reduce the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which exists even with medical professionals. It is very valuable for introducing medical students, in advance, to the various kinds of people they may one day be treating, and to new ideas for how to relate to people coping with the changes brought on by aging and dementia. The Buddy Program has the potential to greatly increase a medical student’s knowledge and understanding of Alzheimer’s and dementia, far beyond…
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “For anyone having to walk the last segments of life with a loved one, read this.” …Delores
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