MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Nearly 7 million people in the U.S. live with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia and 13 percent of them are Hispanic.
Multi-generational Latino households are common, with adult children and grandchildren taking care of the elderly.
“They don't call themselves caregivers, they see themselves as doing it because this is Grandma and Grandpa. This is something that we need to do as a family,” said Vanessa Anciani, Social Worker, UCC Memory Clinic.
In the heart of Milwaukee’s south side sits the Memory Clinic at the United Community Center.
It is the first of its kind in the state of Wisconsin to offer diagnostic services and support in both English and Spanish.
“This is what we speak at home, and this is what we see in a lot of our communities,” said Anciani.
A unique tool at the Clinic that looks to help family members connect to their loved ones who are suffering from the disease is free virtual dementia training.
“We're altering their senses because we're going to give them some tasks that they need to complete so they can see how hard it is for Grandma and Grandpa to complete those tasks,” said Anciani.
Each person who participates in the youth dementia training goes through an obstacle course to give them a better idea of what their loved one experiences with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“We have a lot of the caregivers express their emotions of ‘This is why my mom does this.’ Some of them have even cried saying, ‘My mom has always said, ‘Oh, I feel like I'm a burden, I feel like I'm in the way of everybody, I feel like I have no purpose,’” said Ana Bernal, Registered Nurse, UCC Memory Clinic.
People are given shoe inserts and gloves that mimic neuropathy and arthritis, glasses that simulate cataracts and a headset that plays loud and distracting sounds while they make their way through a set of tasks in the workshop.
“Most of the time or all the time, they're not able to follow those instructions. So that's how they get the sense of why grandma is being slow,” said Anciani.
After filming, I wanted to try the training for myself.
Alzheimer’s runs in my family and for the last years of her life, I saw my maternal grandmother decline rapidly from the disease.
I never understood why she wasn’t the same person I always knew.
As I went through the course, emotions I had long put away came right up to the surface.
And now, having experienced even a few minutes of what her life could have felt like, all the frustration, isolation and confusion, I wish I could have been there for her more.
“One of the greatest impacts that our classes have that it validates their emotions, it validates their feelings, it validates their situations, their circumstances. And apart from validating, we give them resources so that they don't feel alone, that they feel supported,” said Bernal.
UCC is giving young people a chance to try the virtual training on Saturday, July 13.
The session runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the United Community Center Senior Center.
It is open to Hispanic youth between 8-19 years old and registration is required.
For more information, click here.
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