Innovative projects to help delay onset of Alzheimer's

The old adage that prevention is better than cure is certainly true for diseases of the brain. There are a range of things that can be done to delay onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

The main thing is to create facilities to facilitate social interaction. This is one of the main ways to delay onset of not only Alzheimer's but any problem connected with the ageing process, and cuts down on the amount of formal care services, making the available funding go a lot further.

To achieve more social interaction facilities for older people there needs to be closer liaison with local government and non-care service providers with a number of community-based projects available for older people. This will reduce the demand for care services and also benefit the wider community, according to an article in communitycare.co.uk.

Housing is one area that needs to be addressed for older people. It seems that sheltered housing schemes are unpopular, and as they are underused, represent a waste of resources. Instead, many older people would prefer retirement communities which need to be developed and will be of much benefit in releasing family sized housing. Those living in a supportive community with lots of social interaction are less likely to be admitted to hospital and to rely on care services.

What needs to be done is to redevelop the sheltered housing complexes into attractive, mixed tenure retirement communities, especially if they are already near local resources. This could prove to be a sound investment.

Another idea is to establish a "garden army" made up of middle aged and "younger-old" people which will manage the gardens of infirm and elderly. The gardeners could be paid and the money used could fund produce grown and sold to help fund the service. Gardening is an activity that is shown to benefit those in the early stages of dementia and would be of mutual social benefit to all concerned.

Another way to create a mutual support network is the setting up of self support clubs. There is evidence from already existing clubs that they do work and that merely being involved in a club promotes mental health and well-being protecting from other age-related problems. Such self help clubs especially in regard to health problems could exist alongside medical facilities and provide support and backup.

Both these measures would encourage older people to maintain their independence for as long as possible and help to delay onset of Alzheimer's and similar conditions.

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