Home Instead Senior Care, a non-medical home care provider who serves the lower Eastern Shore, facilitated the training for the Apple employees in the Berlin and Fruitland locations. The training provided insight into Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and offered tips for how to handle common issues that may arise from customers with this disease. All three Apple locations received the training and were issued the Alzheimer Friendly Business certification.
“If a customer approaches the pharmacy counter and has problems communicating their needs, our staff is now trained to remain calm and reassuring and speak slowly to troubleshoot the problem and find a solution for the individual,” said Jeff Sherr, president, Apple Discount Drugs. “We thought this was important information and training for our staff to undergo because we are in the healthcare business and many times we are serving an older demographic in our community. We need to make sure we can understand their needs and help them make informed decisions about their health and well-being.”
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. One in nine Americans has Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.
Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging, although the greatest known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. But Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease have early onset Alzheimer’s (also known as younger-onset), which often appears when someone is in their 40s or 50s.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
Top 10 Signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgement
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood and personality
For more information call the Apple Discount Drugs Fruitland location at 410/749-8401, the Pecan Square location at 410/543-8401 or the Apple Berlin location at 410/641-3130. Or visit us online at www.appledrugs.com.
