While searching for the cause and developing a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, the Fisher Center Foundation is also funding projects to support the many family members and friends who are on the front lines of caring for the more than 5 million Alzheimer’s patients in the US and beyond. Despite the massive burden of coping with a long list of patients’ behavioral problems, such as aggressiveness and anxieties, little information is available for caregivers about effective treatments and interventions.
The Foundation funds research at the Fisher Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Resources Program at New York University School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Barry Reisberg. This research has led to the development of a new science of management for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Our next challenge is to raise funds to implement a caregiver training program based on this research and management principles. This program allows Alzheimer’s patients to regain basic skills of daily living and reduces the patient’s dependence on a caregiver, thus improving the quality of life for all involved.
In addition to numerous research projects, the Fisher Center Foundation also funds the Alzheimer’s Information Program, which provides timely, accurate and reliable information to the general public through a number of tools.
The Foundation’s website, www.ALZinfo.org, has been recognized by doctors, caregivers, professional organizations, and the general public as the premier resource on Alzheimer’s disease. Users are able to access a vast array of information through a single, easy to navigate source.
The Foundation underwrote the production and distribution of a documentary entitled “Alzheimer’s: Is Their Hope?” that provides an overview of the disease and introduces viewers to patients, caregivers and researchers battling Alzheimer’s. Since it first aired in November 2002, the program has been shown on more than 60 public television stations in hundreds of communities across the US.
