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Provides nationwide telephone support, crisis counseling
and information and referral services – 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – to people with
Alzheimer’s disease, their caregivers, family members,
health and long-term care providers and the general public.
Administered through a joint partnership between the Alzheimer’s
Association and the Administration on Aging (AoA), the Call
Center serves an estimated 270,000 individuals every year
and responds to approximately 17,000 inquiries per month.
The Call Center provides information on more than 300 specific
topics, including medication and treatment options, strategies
to reduce caregiver stress and safety issues. Assistance
is available in 140 languages using bilingual staff and
a professional translation service. Informational brochures
and other caregiver materials produced by the Call Center
have been translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin,
Polish and Russian. Master’s-level clinicians provide
confidential care consultation and crisis assistance, as
well as education for caregivers.
Telephone conferencing offers a unique capability to support
long-distance caregivers. Market research conducted by the
Alzheimer’s Association identified significant gaps
in services and found that caregiving challenges occur at
all hours and often require immediate intervention and attention.
A national survey of caregivers released by the Alzheimer’s
Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving found
that 74 percent of Alzheimer caregivers reported having
unmet needs, including help in managing challenging behaviors,
advice on how to talk with health care professionals and
assistance in choosing care providers.
For individuals in rural areas, the Call Center is often
the only way caregivers can obtain information, crisis counseling
and educational services. When Hurricane Katrina devastated
the Gulf Coast, the Alzheimer’s Call Center was a
valuable lifeline for as many as 115,000 people with dementia
in Louisiana and Mississippi by reuniting families looking
for missing loved ones and providing up-to-the-minute information
and referral services to federal agencies assisting with
recovery efforts. Call Center staff were deployed to the
Gulf Region after the disaster to assist with outreach,
care consultation and relocation of affected people with
Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association
urges Congress to provide $1 million for the Alzheimer’s
24/7 Call Center.
Next: CDC Brain Health Initiative
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For individuals in rural areas, the Call Center is often the only way caregivers can obtain information, crisis counseling and educational services.
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