Insights for Caregiving During Late Stage Alzheimer’s

In this episode on the Living with Alzheimer's podcast, Christoph interviews licensed master social worker Megan Cowan about her work as Social Work Team Lead for Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care West Michigan.Megan describes how the caregiving journey changes during late-stage Alzheimer’s and how she and her team of medical social workers help families and individual caregivers navigate the shifting care needs.Christoph and Megan discuss recommendations for environmental changes to address safety needs related to restricting access, bathing, toileting, and diet.Christoph stumbles over the word comorbidities ... other medical conditions that can coexist with a person’s dementia diagnosis. Megan explains how these other conditions can significantly impact caregiving needs, and she outlines the services hospice provides that can help with the unique needs of a person in late-stage Alzheimer’s.Lastly, Megan describes what caregivers should prioritize for themselves regarding self-care as the person they're caring for progresses into later stages of dementia. And she recommends that caregivers use techniques from Teepa Snow and resources available from Alzheimer’s Association.To learn more about Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care West Michigan, you can contact them at 616.391.4250.