Intro: Riverside Healthcare puts the health and
wellness information you need well within reach.

Liz Unruh (Host): Hello listeners, and thanks for
tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast, brought to you by Riverside
Healthcare. I'm your host, Liz Unruh. And joining me today is Cindy DeGroot,
who is a Senior Life Learning Coordinator and a certified dementia practitioner
with Riverside Senior Life Communities. Thanks for joining us today, Cindy.

Cindy DeGroot: Thank you for having me.

Host: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and
your background?

Cindy DeGroot: Well, I've been part of the Riverside
family for 45 years. I started as a nursing assistant when I was in nursing
school. I've been an RN for the past 41. So, I've either been a nurse manager
or an educator over the past several years with the focus on geriatrics my
pretty much entire career. The past 24 years, I have been a member of the
leadership team at Senior Life, working as the educator and onboarding
coordinator of our new employees and doing anything related with education of
the population that we serve.

Host: Wow. Cindy, you have a really great experience
in your background. You've been here at Riverside for a long time and you've
been working with our senior life communities for a while here. Can you talk a
little bit about our topic here. We're going to be talking about the Longest
Day About Alzheimer's. Can you talk a little bit about what Alzheimer's is
specifically? I know people just say dementia and they're like, "Oh,
that's Alzheimer's," but that's not the case, is it?

Cindy DeGroot: No, that's not the case. Alzheimer's
and dementia are not the same thing. A lot of times they do get confused. When
you look at dementia, dementia's a group of symptoms, and there are some
classic ones. You know, we always talk about the 10 warning signs or the 10
major symptoms that kind of classify as somebody starts to experience memory
problems. And it can be things that just affect your everyday living that make
it difficult for you to complete tasks. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia, it's
a number one type of dementia, and there's over like 70 different types they
say. And there could be more. I mean, the number changes, you know, over the
years. But Alzheimer's is a predominant one that we hear the most about. I
think over like 6 million people are affected and diagnosed with it.

Host: Wow, that's a lot of people. And I know that
always seems to be the thing that people are like, "Oh, dementia,
Alzheimer's." But there's so many types that it could be. So, looking at
Alzheimer's specifically, are there certain pockets of the population that are
predisposed to Alzheimer's?

Cindy DeGroot: Yeah. So, giving a little bit more
background, when we look at Alzheimer's disease, it is a slow neurodegenerative
disease of the brain. It mainly affects memory, it affects thinking, it affects
behaviors. So, the brain shrinks and the brain cells eventually die. This
causes individuals to just forget about basic information that allows them to
function day in and day out. So when you look at who does this disease target,
who the population is, you know, predominantly older people for sure, because
age is like, I believe your number one risk factor. The older you live, your
risk is higher to get dementia and then, the dementia to go into the different
types such as Alzheimer's. The statistics that are out there. You know, the
current ones that I always go by is with the Alzheimer's Association. And, you
know, they say one in three seniors will die from it. And when you look at the
population, a majority of them, they're not diagnosed until over the age of
like 75. But there is also a young onset that can hit younger people in their
40s and 50s.

But a few other risk factors might be, you know, women are
diagnosed more than men. I think we look at the number of women that are living
compared to men and those numbers, women have the upper edge on that one,
unfortunately. Looking at genetics, your increase depends on if you have the
APOE gene that you carry could lead into Alzheimer's. Also, family history, it
doesn't mean because your mom had it, your grandma had it, that you will get
it, but your risk is higher.

Host: That's really interesting. So, there are
certain reasons why someone might be predisposed to Alzheimer's, like the
gender, your family history and all of that. Is there anywhere that you can go?
Kind of like Riverside Senior Life Community is where you work. We have Memory
Care to help people with dementia and Alzheimer's. How can somewhere like
Riverside help?

Cindy DeGroot: Yeah, that's a great question. I think
the biggest thing to know is what your supports and resources are in our
community. And if you see these symptoms happening, you know, that you have the
signs of changes in memory, the forgetfulness, the forgetting the order that
things go into, you know, we call it sequencing, having visuospatial changes,
what you see around your spaces. Just little things that are these warning
signs that are identified as signs of dementia, seek help, and go to your
primary care physician, start to do followups because sometimes you may think,
"Oh my gosh, my dad, he has Alzheimer's." When in the same case, it
could be like something medical going on. It could be something as simple as a
urinary tract infection that causes kind of some of the same symptoms of
dementia. Or maybe they started on a new medication and it could be a reaction
with the medication. So, it could be multiple different things. They call those
like reversible, irreversible dementias. So, it's important to get it checked
out.

I think looking at your resources, alz.org, the Alzheimer's
Association is a great resource that has a lot of tools available to help give
guidance that you could just kind of track and look at what those symptoms are
and see what your loved one's doing. And they have different kinds of just
instructional sheets and guidance sheets for you. They have free educational
programs as well that we refer people to all the time. And in addition to
Memory Care at Senior Life, when we look at Riverside, we have our Memory
Center. You know, you start with your primary care physician and then they may
refer you to the Memory Center. When we look at those that are expert in the
neurosciences and we have a comprehensive collaborative approach team at
Riverside, when we look at our board-certified neurologists, our
neuropsychologists, the dedicated staff that will help with that evaluation,
workup and testing, a lot of cognitive testing, just to try to hone in and see
what is exactly going on with their loved one.

Some other supports and resources that we have, we have
support groups. We offer two of them at Riverside. Senior Life, two a month,
and one is at our Westwood or Kankakee campus and one in is at our Bourbonnais
campus. Some people come to both of them. You know, they just want to get their
questions answered. They just want to hear what other people are going through.
We also partner with a lot of different community partners. And offer community
education programming. And one of those currently we have going on is with the
KCC's Lifelong Learning Institute and they offer free programming. Most of it's
free for people that are 50 years and older in the community. And that's your
target population for caregivers of these loved ones experiencing the disease
process. And so, we have had multiple, I think we had a total of seven
scheduled from April to August with that offering.

We have community education programs that we offer through
Senior Life currently going on. And we have, you know, different community
churches. They offer, they call and say, "You know, we want to do
something for our congregation and open up our doors to the community."
So, we've had community program and series going on with education through
local churches even.

So, there's a wide variety of options for getting educated.
And you can always call if you're interested and thinking you've done all those
steps, you've been on that path and you think you may need some help or that
Memory Care may be the place where your loved one's next step will be, you can
always call our senior life communities and as far as sales and marketing team,
and just request a tour and just sit down and talk with them and ask them, you
know, the questions that you know you may have about what we have to offer.
Anytime you can call and ask for our social worker, myself, the educator, we
are there to listen. We're there to help guide and direct and provide supports
and resources just to ensure and just help support the people on this journey,
that they don't have to do it alone.

Host: Yeah, that's a lot of great information. It
sounds like if anyone has any questions, definitely reach out and we're going
to stop for a short break here.

Riverside Senior Life Communities is dedicated to creating a
flourishing lifestyle around your story, a lifestyle inspired by your life's
remarkable journey. Memory Care at Westwood and Bourbonnais Grove is all about
being free of worry. We offer an unparalleled level of individualized care,
impeccable service, personalized programs and around-the-clock security.
Resident lifestyles are elevated, enhanced for the better. To learn more about
Memory Care at Riverside Senior Life Communities or to schedule a tour, visit
riversideseniorlife.org.

And we're back. So, you've mentioned some of the
partnerships and organizations that we partner with that specialize in Alzheimer's
care. Are there any others in the area that people could use as a resource?

Cindy DeGroot: I think the Alzheimer's Association is
the go-to organization. They have on their website, alz.org, many, many
resources. They have available a 24/7 helpline with live master's-prepared
educators ready to answer questions for families. Our support group
facilitators have been trained through the Alzheimer's Association. We have
been a sponsor of the annual Walk to End in Alzheimer's every year. That's
coming up in September again. And they are the leaders, you know, one of the
strong leaders when we look at education, supports, resources, research being
done, that we are closely connected with.

Host: Yeah, I think that's one that is huge and you
definitely see out in the community and on social media. They do post a lot of
good information. So, like you said, there's the Walk to End Alzheimer's. But
also in June, Alzheimer's Association celebrates the Longest Day. So, the
Longest Day is, you know, June 21st. It's the longest day of the calendar year
because of how long the sun is up that day. Can you tell us a little bit about
the purpose of celebrating that day?

Cindy DeGroot: Yeah. Again, this is another annual
fundraiser from the Alzheimer's Association. And when you think about the day
with most light, we call it the summer solstice. And this is where thousands of
participants from across the world, they come together really to focus on
fighting the darkness of Alzheimer's. So, it's kind of become tradition through
the support of encouraging families and organizations, businesses, students,
clubs, whoever it might be to just join together and really help provide some
kind of education, increasing awareness of what this disease is, focusing on
brain health for younger people when we look at lifestyles. And together, they
use their creativity, their passion, to just do those fun brain-healthy
activities from sunrise to sunset.

Host: Yeah. It sounds like it would be a really fun
way to celebrate this. So, you mentioned some activities that people do. Can
you give some examples of the celebrations that people participate in?

Cindy DeGroot: Yeah, there are many. Most of them,
they will focus on your dimensions of wellness. So when you think about
exercise, so you will have special walks, you may have take your dog on a walk
to the park and everybody meets there and gathers together and walking their
dogs and animals. And they may do anything connected with music. Music therapy
is huge and beneficial for those living with Alzheimer's and taps into our
long-term memory. And it chimes in with reminiscing, which our long-term memory
is that strong memory. And so, music is just that tie and the one part of the
brain that really isn't affected by this disease. So, it's something that
everybody can enjoy and be a part of. So, they may have special guest musicians
or singers or having sing-alongs. They may have brain-stimulating games.
Anything to do with art, art therapy. Just having fun, relaxing, being
creative. You know, that can focus on just the joys of life and just really
giving that individual that's living with the disease, plus everyone that's
supporting them just have some social time together for our emotional health
and wellbeing.

Host: Yeah, I think that's really important.
Something that you seem to lose is you're always worried about their memory and
if they're going to remember. But sometimes it's the joy of just doing the
activities with the people that even if they don't remember it, you remember
the joy and the excitement that you had of doing those activities with them.

Cindy DeGroot: Absolutely. You know, I think the
focus on a lot of the education training I do, and what we focus on at Memory
Care with Riverside Senior Life is what brings you joy each and every day. And
making sure when we do that self-assessment of us, when we think about those
things that we can't live without, what brings us joy every day, I think the
things that are always said, you know, my family, my kids, my grandkids. Some
people have to have that cup of coffee every day, you know, the smell of fresh
cut grass. And those things are just as important to our loved ones living with
dementia-related diseases. And so, we have to get to know them and what's
important to them, and still bring those moments of joy with them each and
every day for everybody involved.

Host: Yeah, for sure. So, can you give examples of
how Riverside has celebrated the longest day in the past?

Cindy DeGroot: Yeah. Some of the things that we've
done, we've kind of had Rockathons where we have our indoor and outdoor Rocking
Chairs. So again, it's a fundraiser, so people may donate so much money to rock
for 30 Minutes. And a lot of times what's really joyful to see is how our staff
partner with the residents. And they may schedule the times together with them.
So, they just sit and then they chit chat and they reminisce. And during their
time of rocking, we've had large bake sales, we've had raffles with a lot of
donated just gifts and prizes. We've had art therapy. We've had some art, like
just fun kind of things where we may just put canvases up and it's those things
where you just throw the art and whatever lands on the canvas, it's just our
future creativity here being broadcasted just in front of everyone and we
laugh. And I just think it's a time of just social connections and just helping
prevent the isolation of the disease and really looking at again finding those
moments of joy. A lot of music, we always have had musical entertainers also.

Host: Oh yeah, for sure. And I'm sure if someone
wants to find out how we're celebrating the longest day this year at Riverside,
they can take a look at the Facebook page to find out more.

Cindy DeGroot: Yes. It will be posted what we will be
doing to celebrate inviting our families, residents, just to stop in and stop
by and just be a part of it. Or go to alz.org and sign up your own team and do
your own fundraising and just some kind of activity for that day when we have
the most light, you know, throughout the whole year, and making the best of it.

Host: Yeah, for sure. Definitely take advantage of
all the light and having some fun with your loved ones that day. I know we went
over a lot of things here today, but is there anything else that you would like
to add, Cindy?

Cindy DeGroot: I think the biggest thing is for those
that are on this journey, or if you're in question to call and get help, to
call and talk to somebody, and just to know that you don't have to be on this
journey by yourself. We have so many supports and resources and community
agencies and partners that you can get referrals to to help support you in many
different ways. It is something that you never think you're going to
experience. And I think now even more so, you know, we all have to be an
advocate for those that are living with the disease to find a cure, but to help
them have the best and safest quality of life as they continue to live. And
then for those that are caring for their loved ones, it is the longest day each
and every day when they are a 24/7 care partner. I know firsthand from just a
personal experience of my mom recently and, you know, she passed away last
year. And I think that's even heightened my awareness and heightened my focus
on advocacy for all those involved with caring for loved ones living with
dementia-related diseases.

Host: Yeah. Well, thank you for all of the great
information and sharing even your personal story there. We really appreciate
you coming on the podcast today.

Cindy DeGroot: Thank you very much. It's been my
pleasure. Thank you.

Host: Yeah. And thank you for tuning into the Well
Within Reach podcast with Cindy DeGroot, the Senior Life Learning Coordinator
and certified dementia practitioner with Riverside Senior Life Communities, and
your host, Liz Unruh. To learn more about the Riverside Senior Life Communities
or to schedule a tour of one or all of our beautiful locations, visit
riversideseniorlife.org.