By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
Highland Park resident Elvis Gardin makes his 88-year-old mother a fruit shake, puts on her make-up, does her hair. It’s all part of their morning routine and his routine as her caregiver. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007.
“People would always ask me, ‘How’s your mom, how’s your mom, how’s your mom?’ I would say, ‘Look at her, she’s fine.’ I’m the one, this is hell to pay. You have to take over everything. You take someone’s life on,” he said.
“There really isn’t anyone looking out for the caregiver and asking them, ‘How are you doing through all this? How is your health?” explained Care2Caregivers Rutgers University Behvaioral Health Care Coordinator Mary Catherine Lundquist.
Just a couple of the questions Care2Caregivers asks. It’s a new peer support help line for caregivers who are helping those with memory loss, dementia and Alzhiemer’s disease, funded by the state Department of Human Services. The help line, operated by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, connects callers with resources like day programs and provides emotional support.
When asked why it’s so important to have this service, Lundquist said, “Because caregivers are the unsung hero of the illness.”
There are 170,000 people age 65 year and older suffering from Alzheimer’s in New Jersey and more than 440,000 Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers.
“Honestly I think love triumphs it all. I do get tired. I’m tired now. I can have the laundry going, the dishwasher going, mopping the floor,” Elvis said.
Elvis took his mom out of an assisted living facility in 2013. Although she was diagnosed with Alzhiemer’s, he thinks she suffers from a different type of dementia. They live together. He prepares their vegan meals and says her condition’s improved significantly. He first called Care2Caregivers’s Barbara Surina about five months ago.
“We instantly hit it off,” he said.
Barbara’s father and sister suffered from dementia. All of Care2Caregivers’ peer specialists have personal experience as caregivers to those with memory loss.
When asked what it’s like to be able to talk to someone and know firsthand what they’re going through, Surina said, “I feel for them. I want to know there is someone who’s out there that cares.”
“I can truly identify with all the situations they’re going through,” said Rita Mae Reichardt.
Since Care2Caregivers launched in August, these peer specialists have received more than 1,200 calls but they don’t just wait for the phones to ring here. So far they’ve made close to 2,900 calls to check up on those caregivers.
“To reach out and call a number and have someone on the other end answer and being able to understand and get right to the core of things is relieving,” Elvis said.
Care2Caregivers hopes to one day expand the program nationwide.
Care2Caregivers can be reached by phone at 800-424-2494. You can access the program’s Facebook page here.