| Community...
if there is anything that defines Montana as a good place it
is the abundance of community, even in places where people have
to drive a ways to get to the neighbor's house. |
| In 2004
Montana PBS and MSU Extension helped bring communities together
to learn about Alzheimer's disease and what communities can
do to help families of Alzheimer's patients. |
| In the
winter of 2004, when Montana PBS aired the national program
called "The Forgetting," the station also worked with
the MSU Extension Service to coordinate meetings in 16 counties.
Extension Agents in those counties organized community viewings
of the program and facilitated discussion groups afterwards.
For communities that could not receive Montana PBS, videotapes
were sent to them for the viewing. |
| "There
was outstanding response from County Agents on this--the most
in any program I have had," said Sandra Bailey, Extension's
health and human development specialist (baileys@montana.edu
or 406 994-6745). Bailey is also a board member for the Montana
Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, as is Sheridan County
Extension Agent Sheila Friedrich. |
| Chris Seifert,
the Montana PBS program's producer, brought advisors into the
Montana PBS station to be available for questions from the counties. |
| "At
first I thought that people with Alzheimer's would be better
off in big cities, but now I'm thinking that we are darn lucky
to be in Montana," Seifert says. "We have long-term
community connections, and we found some great resources right
here in Montana." |
| From Montana
dogs that are trained in the "Go find Bill game" (an
Alzheimer's patient) (www.schuredog.com)
to the Life's End Institute in Missoula (www.missoulademonstration.org
or 406 728-1613), and simple techniques like creating photo
books as memory aides, the show provided a springboard for local
discussions that looked for creative solutions to common problems. |
| Some counties
have ongoing support and education groups, but the coordinated
effort with Montana PBS served a special need in making people
aware of what is available in their communities and of the types
of creative approaches that can help families cope with the
disease in a loved one. |
| Bailey
said 83 percent of respondents to a follow-up survey said they
learned information relevant to them, and 66 percent said they
believed the information reduced some of their anxiety associated
with the disease. More than 50 percent said the show's examples
helped them to feel "less alone as a caregiver" to
someone with the disease. |
| Seifert
said she is continuing to make videotaped copies of the program
available to those who ask as long as she has copies. In addition,
some county Extension Service offices are continuing to provide
the video to local groups. |
| The Montana
PBS Web site (www.montanapbs.org)
has links to information: the Alzheimer's Association Web site
at: http://www.alz.org, the National Institute on Aging at http://www.alzheimers.org,
and a companion page to an Alzheimer's e-mail discussion group
at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pop/etc/links.html.
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