City Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer and the New York City chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association called Sunday for a citywide plan to deal with victims of the heartbreaking disease.
“As our population ages, more of our residents are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and New York City is not prepared to handle this growing health-care emergency,” Stringer warned at a news conference.
The outgoing Democratic Manhattan borough president unveiled a report prepared in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association that said that in the next 40 years, one in five New Yorkers will either get the disease or know someone with it.
According to the report, friends and relatives of those with Alzheimer’s are currently spending up to 40-plus hours a week dealing with their affected loved ones.
Out of 496 people surveyed, two-thirds reported missing at least one day of work to care for someone with Alzheimer’s or other dementia, while nearly one-fifth said they “missed a staggering total of 21 or more days of work — equivalent to more than four, full-time work weeks” in the past year.“It’s $19 an hour, minimum, for a caregiver,’’ she said. “I didn’t have the money to do that. It’s a 24/7, 365-day job to live with a person with dementia.”
Speakers at yesterday’s news conference also complained about the lack of affordable services, saying that hiring people to care for Alzheimer’s patients can lead a family into financial ruin.
Marcy Browson, whose husband has Alzheimer’s, said, “I make too much money to be eligible for Medicaid, but not enough to be able to pay for a caregiver.”
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