The impact of Alzheimer’s disease on the workplace is staggering, both in terms of missing time from the office and the cost to business. According to 2011 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures study, 67 percent of employees had to arrive to work late, leave early or take time off because of Alzheimer caregiving demands. In addition:

• 14 percent had to take a leave of absence.
  
  
• 13 percent had to reduce their hours or take a less-demanding job.
  
  
• 10 percent had to quit.

The financial cost of Alzheimer’s disease to business is over $61 billion per year. Of that total, $24.6 billion is directly related to health care, while $36.5 billion is lost to businesses due to missed productivity related to employees providing care.

You can take part in reducing these costs and fighting Alzheimer’s disease by discussing eldercare options and planning for the future.

Our Chapter and our national organization are working together to help you help and your employees who are affected by Alzheimer’s and related dementias in a variety of ways.

Resources include:

	The 48-hour Day: Alzheimer’s Disease and Your Employees   – a brochure to help business leaders and human resources professionals understand Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and how it affects their workforce.
	Care and Support Services available for you and your employees through the Western and Central Washington State Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
	At Work: Dementia affects companies If you work and have a spouse or partner, parents or older relatives, you'll want to hear this.
	Taking Care: Alzheimer’s and Working Moms
	Caregiving for loved ones the 'new normal' for boomers - CNN.com With about 10,000 baby boomers hitting age 65 each day, they're becoming caregivers and those needing care.
	The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents, June 2011  Nearly 10 million adult children over the age of 50 care for their aging parents. These family caregivers are themselves aging as well as providing care at a time when they also need to be planning and saving for their own retirement. The study analyzes data from the 2008 panel of the National Health and Retirement Study (HRS) combined with estimates to determine the extent to which older adult children provide care to their parents, the roles gender and work play in that caregiving, and the potential cost to the caregiver in lost wages and future retirement income as a result of their support.
	The Job to End All Others To work full time and take care of a parent with dementia is a contradiction in terms — unless your full-time job is taking care of a parent with dementia. Even if I’d had more time to prepare, I still would have lost my job…
	Alzheimer’s Early Detection Alliance (AEDA) - Early detection of Alzheimer's is important for your employees as both individuals at risk and as caregivers for family members. Most people do not know when forgetting becomes a serious health problem. By putting off learning more, people impacted by Alzheimer's disease are being diagnosed too late and miss the opportunity to get the best help possible.
	Know the 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease - There are 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's disease. Along with the advice of a doctor, these signs are critical to detecting Alzheimer's. If you have more questions about the symptoms of Alzheimer's, call us anytime at 800.272.3900.
	2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures  provides a statistical resource for U.S. data related to Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, as well as other dementias. Additional sections address prevalence, mortality, caregiving and use and costs of care and services. The Special Report focuses on the growing number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias who live alone.