EP 24 When Dementia Meets the Coronavirus Crisis :: Julie Halpert

Award-winning freelance journalist Julie Halpert talks with Bobbi and Mike about her NYTimes article that explored the many unique challenges that dementia caregivers are facing during the Coronavirus crisis.

“While the disease itself does not necessarily place patients at high risk for contracting the virus, they and their caregivers face a range of special challenges. Dementia patients are typically very sensitive to changes in routine and often require a great deal of hands-on care, both factors that are hard to manage now.”

“Among the greatest challenges is how to minimize disruption in care that is intensely personal. “Care for dementia patients is ‘high touch,’” said Peter Lichtenberg, a professor of psychology and director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University. He recommends that caregivers take measures to avoid their own exposures by having provisions delivered, disinfecting surfaces and employing proper hand-washing techniques.”

Julie Halpert is an award-winning freelance journalist with more than three decades of experience writing for many national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and AARP. She writes the Second Acts stories in The Wall Street Journal about those who have switched to new types of careers and passions late in life. She is also the co-author of Making Up With Mom, which focuses on generational differences between women and their mothers and how to resolve them. She has focused extensively on issues of aging, writing about the many ways that boomers are redefining retirement and reinventing themselves during this period of life, as well as the challenges of caregiving.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts

Read the full NY Times article

You can find Julie on Facebook and for more information visit her website.