New program for Alzheimer’s caregivers makes past the focus of the present

When a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia it can be devastating, but a local organization is hoping a new approach to care for those diseases may help.

Officials with Home Instead Senior Care in Richland County say 60 to 70 percent of Alzheimer's patients are still living at home, and they say there's a new program that's helping caregivers and families take care of patients.

"We know that families experience two significant challenges," said Rene Kilburn of Home Instead Senior Care. "One is how to engage the mind of the person with the Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, and the second to deal with some of the behaviors that come out of it."


But those challenges may be a little easier to handle during the caretaking journey. Rene Kilburn, the president and local franchise owner of the Home Instead Senior Care in Columbia, says the organization's new "Alzheimer's CARE Program" utilizes a journal called ‘Capturing Life's Journey' that centers on learning all about a patient's past. The company believes it will help caretakers and families better take care of their patients.

"We actually have an exercise we go through to capture those experiences and we can use those experiences to actually engage them and help manage their behaviors," said Kilburn.

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