Shannon Braun, director of ERS' Center for Memory Support and Inclusion.

Team members from Episcopal Retirement Services and other caregiving organizations will emphasize two points this week when they meet with Ohio lawmakers to advocate for families with loved ones who are living with dementia.

Two important dementia-related needs

First, they will urge legislators to keep in the budget for the next two years Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal to spend an additional $2.5 million to help organizations offer badly needed respite care and support services for people who provide care for people who are living at home and have Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia.

Secondly – also critical – they will advocate for the Ohio Department of Health to create programs that increase public awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia so people better understand the early warning signs and know to use Medicare Annual Wellness Visits for people 65 and older to examine their cognitive health.

Katrina Traylor, Shannon Braun, and Hannah McCarren met with Ohio lawmakers to advocate for families with loved ones who are living with dementia.

Relaying stories about the need

Shannon Braun, director of ERS’ Center for Memory Support and Inclusion, will attend the event with Katrina Traylor, social services coordinator at ERS’ Marjorie P. Lee retirement community in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park neighborhood; and Hannah McCarren, Memory Support Household Coordinator at Marjorie P. Lee.

Traylor and McCarren both not only work closely in their ERS capacities with people who are living with dementia and their caregivers but also have connections in their personal lives with people who suffer from the group of diseases.

By 2025, it is estimated that 250,000 Ohioans 65 or older will have various forms of dementia, with more than 493,000 serving as their caregivers. Those numbers are expected to continue to grow in the coming decades as the population ages.

“The benefit of us being able to talk with legislators is unless you have had a personal experience, I don’t think you realize how necessary respite care is,” Braun said. “I think that’s the benefit of the constituents coming in and sharing their stories with the people who are making these laws and decisions because they don’t know unless they’ve been personally impacted.”

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Respite funding can help people live at home longer

Advocates are encouraged that DeWine put the Respite Care item in his budget. Given that he is a Republican, and Republican majorities lead both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, that would seem to be a good sign that the line item will remain in the budget for the next two years.

Spending on respite care has not been increased in the past four two-year budget cycles.

“I think it means a lot that it’s in there,” Braun said. “And it’s obviously of value.”

It can be taxing – emotionally, psychologically, and physically – to care for somebody with dementia, especially when that person is a loved one.

When a caregiver can receive breaks that allow them to refresh and recharge their batteries, that can allow them to continue providing care longer at home, as opposed to the more expensive alternative of a memory-care campus. So that can reduce the drain on state Medicaid dollars, Braun said.

Public awareness can help many

“I think there have been a lot of other diseases and conditions over time that the public has been made more aware of; they’ve had very successful campaigns,” Braun said, citing AIDS and Autism as examples of what could be done for families living with dementia and Alzheimer’s, and resources that could assist them.

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You also can download our Dementia Guide....