Title: You’re not alone with Alzheimer Disease

Kerri Sutherland, Support & Education Coordinator for the Alzheimer Society of B.C. - North Shore & Sunshine Coast, makes sure you’re not alone with Alzheimer Disease or other related dementias.

Last spring, the Daybreak team attended the North Shore Outlook Women of Excellence Awards. Not only did we attend, but we nominated a winner! Kerri Sutherland won the Excellence Award in the Community category.

I had the wonderful experience of meeting Kerri while attending one of her Dementia Education Series for Caregivers. I recall those Saturday mornings in November to be damp and dreary, but Kerri’s spirits were always positive and upbeat. I was so impressed by her engaging manner and compassion as she taught people about the process of A.D. and Dementia and how to cope as caregivers.

Kerri offers expert advice and resources through her education and support groups. There are courses for both people with the disease, as well as separate classes for families and caregivers. Kerri’s passion and enthusiasm is certainly raising awareness for North Shore community members, as the numbers in her classes have doubled in the past year.

But other numbers are doubling too… frightening numbers. In 2008 in Canada there were 103,700 new cases of Alzheimer Disease (AD) & related dementias. That’s one every five minutes! In 30 years, researchers suggest that number could more than double to 257,800, or one new case every two minutes! In 2008 there were 480,600 Canadians diagnosed with AD and related dementias. That’s 1.5% of the population. Again, in 30 years, that number could almost double to represent almost 3%.

So what can we do to prevent from becoming one of those statistics?

We can start by practicing the Healthy Brain Program. By making healthy lifestyle choices, you can reduce your risk of developing AD and related dementias and also improve your brain’s ability to sustain long-term health.

The Healthy Brain Program recommends:

Challenge your brain

Be physically fit

Be socially active

Make Healthy Food Choices

Reduce your stress

Protect your head from injury

We can all do that! And we should! Check it out @ www.alzheimer.ca

You can also find other education and support groups throughout B.C. on this website.

I'd like to encourage our clients to consider the environment when they plan their move by suggesting an alternative to cardboard moving boxes - FROGBOX plastic, re-usable totes and wardrobes.

We all are concerned about doing our part to reduce our environmental footprint. However, better than recycling, is re-using, which takes less energy. FROGBOX totes are re-used hundreds of times before being fully recycled, while cardboard is used on average less than two times before being recycled or disposed of.

These plastic moving boxes are 2.4 cubic feet (70 liters). They are 24 inches by 20 inches by 12 inches. If you go to their website, www.frogbox.com you can see just how much you can fit into one of these totes.

Take a look at the Daybreak Supplies FROGBOX pictured with this blog. There are over 90 items in that box! Moving is all about organization and having the right tools for the job. Once I load my FROGBOX into my car, I am confident that I haven't forgotten a thing. The real trick is knowing how to re-pack the box, but our organizers have that down to a science!

Besides offering a "green" moving solution, re-usable boxes also save time and money. No assembly, no fussing with sticky packing tape and scribbling over top of old moving labels. Just pack and stack!

First of all, according to the Canadian Government’s Competition Bureau, there are no typical victims. So while we ignorantly assume that victims must be fools; they are in fact, often educated, intelligent and relatively affluent people. So beware; anyone can fall prey to the wiles of deception.

Still, if there are no typical victims, why do we worry that our grandmother or our spouse may be tricked into a malicious scheme? When they can breeze through the Challenger Crossword and leave us floundering and chewing on our pencils, why do we still have this nagging worry that someone will outsmart them and take advantage of them?

 Simply, it may be because we know them to be caring, loving, and trusting people. Or it could be a case of loneliness when many older adults find themselves living on their own. Professional crooks are very friendly and compelling conversationalists! And part of their strategy is to appeal to our emotions and become our friends.

So we need to be alert when we’re dealing with strangers. We want to think with our brains --- not with our hearts!

Where’s the good news for Daybreak clients? We use only vetted third party professional resources that we trust and know will treat you respectfully and honestly. We can also pay sub-contractors, so that you do not have to give out your personal information.

If you want to read more about this topic and how you can protect yourself and your loved ones, go to Our Library, Articles written by Colleen Smart.

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a week since the Olympic flame was extinguished. Yet, the embers still can ignite a spark in our hearts. Reluctant to let go of our newly found national spirit, we bathe in the joy of what it is to be a Canadian --- polite, respectful, caring of others above ourselves, team players who know that every individual contribution can accumulatively produce enormous, life-altering results.

These reflections bring to mind a time when our family needed that Canadian character and generous spirit. Our 95 year-old parents had decided to move from their Toronto home of 60 years. Yet we lived in British Columbia and knew that, as much as we wanted to, we could not support them physically and emotionally through this significant transition. Thankfully, Fred and Mina discovered Red Coats, a Senior Move Management company in Toronto.

Under their experienced guidance and caring support, Fred and Mina were shepherded safely through what would have been an extremely difficult undertaking on their own. Our family breathed a collective sigh of relief as all the moving details unfolded and Fred and Mina arrived happily to their new home with everything in place. They never looked back with any regrets.

We’ve never looked back either. That experience provided us with the inspiration to become Senior Move Managers ourselves! And that Canadian spirit? We’ve got it! We carry the torch for all our clients and their families, treating everyone with compassion and integrity.

What’s your Olympic reflection? What event, athlete, performance, or story did you take away to inspire you? Take it and go for the gold!

If you are like most Canadians, then Senior Move Management is new to you. You can find specific information on the Daybreak website (www.daybreaklifemoves.com) or you can google and search for yourself. However, let me tell you the important aspects of my job; information that isn’t readily found through a search engine.

Senior Move Managers are very caring, sensitive, personable and supportive people. Of course we are organized, take-charge individuals, but the key to us is that we care deeply about our clients. We listen carefully to every person’s concerns with our hearts wide open!

My mission every day is to work hard to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the clients that I serve. And that means I won’t hesitate to put down my tools if I see that someone needs a hug more than a de-cluttered closet! We all know moving is overwhelming. A Senior Move Manager can guide you through both the physical and emotional ups and downs. And a little hug can go a long way!