Finding Strength in Support Groups with Ruth Ann Rousseau

Virginia and Steve are joined by Ruth Ann Rousseau, a caregiver and support group leader, to discuss the vital role that support groups play for dementia caregivers. Ruth Ann highlights how these groups provide resources, confidence, and community while addressing the challenges of participation. She compares online and in-person meetings and encourages caregivers to seek support, stay open to learning, and prioritize self-care. The discussion concludes with a reminder to persist in finding the right support system and advocating for personal well-being.

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Steve: 0:06

From the University of California, Irvine, this is UCI MIND's Spotlight on Care, the podcast where we share stories, experiences, tips and advice on caring for loved ones affected by Alzheimer's and other dementias. Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Spotlight on Care. Virginia and I are really excited about this session because we're gonna be talking about support groups, and we've learned over the years how incredibly valuable these are, although Virginia's experience that she'll talk a little bit about, it wasn't great. Mine was incredibly good. And our guest is not only a person who participated in support groups, but also someone who runs a support group. So, we're excited to have her here, and I'll introduce her in a second. Virginia, do you have something you wanted to add about support groups?

Virginia: 0:55

I'd love to Steve. I should have tried harder to find one. But my first experience was not terrific, so that was my problem. I decided to join one. Mom was in assisted living at the time, so I could leave her and go to a meeting. And I sat there, and I was, I don't know, I was kind of nervous. They got into discussing things and, you know, introductions and all that. But then I raised my hand and I said, I have a question. What are the last stages like? And it was quiet, and the leader looked at me, and she goes, "You don't want to know." And when I left that meeting, I did not feel good about that group. It wasn't something that made me feel like I wanted to go back; however, looking back at my experience, I should have tried finding another group, because I really see the benefit now. Steve has told me how wonderful they are. I haven't done a lot of research about them, or I haven't spoken with that many people who have been in one or participating in one, but they are really wonderful things to belong to, and I should have tried harder.

Steve: 2:10

So I come from the other side of the fence, and I was blessed to have a couple of guys take me underneath their wing and give me some advice. And from there, we formed a men's group of guys who were supporting their wives with Alzheimer's. So it was just phenomenal. And it went on for seven years, and new people joined, and some people left, and eventually we just ran out of gas, because everybody had lost their wife at that point in time. But to a man, anybody who'd gone through the groups would say it was the best experience they ever had, because there's nothing like talking to somebody who's been on the same journey, not the same details, but the same journey. So with that in mind, I'd like to introduce Ruth Ann Rousseau, did I pronounce it correctly?

Ruth Ann: 2:55

You did. Thank you.

Steve: 2:56

Very good. She is a dedicated caregiver, and she'll talk a little bit about how. She's a support group leader and an advocate for those who are on the caregiving journey, and more importantly, she is an award winner for her efforts in caregiving. She was named the Female Caregiver of the Year by Alzheimer's Orange County. What an honor. Congratulations.

Ruth Ann: 3:17

Thank you.

Steve: 3:17

So why don't we just jump into: tell us about your role as a caregiver.

Ruth Ann: 3:23

I think, like most people, it just morphed. It wasn't a decision that was made, just being the daughter you kind of end up in that role, or very often you do. My brother says"It's always up to the daughters, isn't it?" Well, no, but it can happen. But it was more. My parents spent a lot of time in other states after I graduated from high school, and when they finally moved back to the area, they landed at some point within about 10 miles of me. So we got to reconnect as adults, and it was really nice, because we didn't spend a lot of time talking while they were gone. And then we started Saturday night, game night, every night, and then we started learning about who went to the doctor. What did you find out? And I ask a lot of questions. Some people say I'm nosy. And it turned out I started going on doctor appointments with him, and especially my dad after my mom lost her mobility. I guess you could put it that way, and as he started entering the arena of Alzheimer's, then I was the person that would take him and learn and ask the questions and do the research. So that's kind of how I ended up being because I was in close proximity.

Steve: 4:23

You actually started being a caregiver for your mom, and your dad was also a caregiver, and then you morphed into being the caregiver for your dad. Is that how it went?

Ruth Ann: 4:32

Dad was the main caregiver for mom. That's kind of how that worked for all the years and that was his responsibility, which he took very seriously and still does. And I think when they moved closer, he was still caring for her. I was trying to care for him, to support him caring for her. And then we got the diagnosis, I kind of pushed him into getting an evaluation from a neurologist. And when that finally occurred, and it all kind of happened in that sequence.

Steve: 4:57

Well let's talk about that. How did you get him to decide to go in and get a diagnosis? How'd you work that magic?

Ruth Ann: 5:03

Well, it took a couple years.

Steve: 5:04

Wow.

Ruth Ann: 5:05

I had a friend that worked at a company, a large company, and they had a speaker come in, who happened to be a really good, well known neurologist, and I think he worked with UCI for a while, as a matter of fact, and it took a couple years to get him in there. We had all noticed dad's memory was declining, I mean, like 15-20, years, and we didn't know if it was just, if it was something serious, or if it was just, "Eh, these aren't things that are important to him." You know, he's an aerospace engineer, and he doesn't think much about where did the pan go when I picked it up. So it was hard to tell if it was intentional or if it was just lack of interest, or what.

Virginia: 5:38

Or normal aging.

Ruth Ann: 5:39

That too. But now I hear that normal aging, you're not supposed to lose your memory, so I don't know, I'm confused about the whole thing still. Mom had a couple of incidents, and once we got those under our belt, and we moved on, then Dad said, "Okay, I'm ready to go." So it took a couple years, and then we finally went in and talked to the neurologist and did the testing where we indeed found out they did the spinal fluid test where he said there's definitely he's headed in that direction. So that's when I went, "Okay, let me learn about this because I don't know anything about it really, other than you lose your memory. I don't know what the end looks like. I don't know what the middle looks like."

Steve: 6:10

So where did you start? Where did you start on your investigation?

Ruth Ann: 6:13

On the internet. That was nice that we have that resource now, whereas maybe 40-50 years ago, I don't know what people did. I just started searching, and I can't remember the whole process, but I did end up trying to find a support group, and walking all around the Saddleback campus one night trying to find the room. Never found it. I think I attended two different support groups and was mortified, and I wasn't sure I would ever go back, because it was scary, because you'd hear things. First, I don't feel comfortable in a group of people talking, and they say,"Introduce yourself." And I'm like, "Ah, crud." So that was difficult for me. And then hearing the other stages, when all I know is Dad's not remember everything now. So it was really scary. And then I thought, okay, well, they suggested the savvy caregiver course, and I took that. And then once I was more immersed in it, I just wanted to learn more, and the support groups were highly recommended. So that's how I started. That's when COVID hit. There was the lockdown. So I started back with the support groups online, so I only had to go to two in-person.

Steve: 7:12

What's the difference in your estimation of an online group versus an in-person group? Are they significant enough?

Ruth Ann: 7:18

They were significant enough for me, because I work 40 hours a week, so my time is limited. I'm working from home now because of COVID, and I can access the online support group much easier than taking a half hour to drive somewhere, having the group and then coming home. So access is much better for me, and I felt a little bit because I'm nervous. I'm an introvert and a shy person, I'm more apt to participate online. At first, it wasn't easy, but I'm more apt to participate online, I think now because there's that little separation.

Steve: 7:46

So that's interesting. Your response would be, both have their advantages.

Ruth Ann: 7:51

Absolutely.

Steve: 7:52

There's something valuable, maybe with online for people who are don't have the time or a little bit more retiring in terms of their nature, might not want to go to a group and find it less intimidating to be with someone online, but you still feel like you get enough interaction.

Ruth Ann: 8:08

Oh yeah, and you get to be really good friends with some of the people because you have something in common and you find other interests. I'm not saying that I would prefer online right now, because of time limitations and whatnot. The only reason why I'm not going to in-person is because online is being offered. I think it was the timing of the shutdown. I had gone to two shutdown and then that was all that was offered for a while. I never have pursued an in-person since then. Just because I have my group, I have my tribe.

Virginia: 8:34

That might have been a fix for me. It wasn't available then; the internet was hardly available.

Ruth Ann: 8:40

Exactly.

Virginia: 8:41

That might have been something that I would have gotten benefit from that. Yeah.

Steve: 8:45

So you use this word"tribe", and I heard it before doing some research on support groups. When you say tribe, what does that mean? What's the vibe that's going on?

Ruth Ann: 8:55

For me, it's just people that are in the soup with you. They're in the trenches. Everybody's got a different experience. Everybody's person is a different level. But every time somebody shares, you remember it later, it's like,"Oh, I remember when so-and-so said such-and-such. I can either go to her as a resource, or I can research it myself, because now I have an idea of what to do. To me, tribe is a group of peers who support each other.

Steve: 9:19

You said something important, so your group actually participates with each other outside of just the online group.

Ruth Ann: 9:25

Sometimes we do, yeah, just depending. We don't meet as a group. We've tried a couple of times. It's just too hard to get that many people together. Caregivers are busy- full time caregivers. My parents are being taken care of. I just kind of oversee at this point. So yeah, we don't get together, one-on-one yes, but not necessarily full group. But we do get together, there are some field trips -I call them field trips anyway- with the Alzheimer's Orange County, they do specific things where you can go whale watching for an afternoon. It's a respite for caregivers, or it's something different every time.

Steve: 9:54

Cool. This is just a quick question about your caregiving. How have your siblings and you work together? How's that been for you?

Ruth Ann: 10:02

I'm really lucky.

Steve: 10:03

Oh.

Ruth Ann: 10:03

Yeah, I'm really lucky because I hear horror stories. I've got two older brothers, and one lives in Washington and one's in Texas. And anytime anything goes wrong with my parents, they want to know but at my own pace, because sometimes you're in the hospital, you're doing stuff, and you just don't have the time for three or four days to speed on things, and then they're fine sitting down for a zoom call, talking about ideas, just supporting me, and they're real careful about, how can we support you in this? And they're far away. Turns out, one of my brothers, the one in Texas, is now caring for my dad. His wife's a CNA, and we moved him there. We ran across a couple of problems that we couldn't solve here, and it just worked. I miss him a lot, but I wanted him to be in a home where people love him and we'll take good care of him, and I can trust that and-

Steve: 10:46

What was that like for you, to have him move?

Ruth Ann: 10:49

Really difficult. It was really difficult to come to the decision, because that was a real out of the box thought. And when I thought about it, it's like, "Oh gosh. Okay, well, let's see if I can get one brother on board before we approached them." Just a lot of coordination. My sister in law is a CNA. How can we give her an income so that she can quit her job and take care of dad? Will their house accommodate it? They're in a very small house right now. How do we get him there without him going off the deep end? Is mom going to be on board with this? Because these two have been married for, what, 68 years, or something like that. It was just all the details. And then he was in skilled nursing at the time, so how to actually choreograph the whole thing was daunting, but like I said, I had my brothers in my court, and mom was on board. She thought the idea was a little funny at first, to think about it for a couple days and we'll rejoin and get back to it. And we got it to work. He wants to come home, but he also knows that he's well taken care of. He loves where he is. People tell him he loves him all the time. They've got a dog, which he just which was the saving grace, actually, when he saw that dog, because that dog will pull him out of a meltdown. Because when he first got there, he was really melting down, a little bit.

Steve: 11:56

Upset about having left his wife, or upset about the new environment.?

Ruth Ann: 11:59

No, most of it was, he didn't know where he was. I mean, after he realized he was somewhere, he was upset. You know, it's things like that, large events can throw people in the deep end for a while, people with dementia, and it did, and it took a while, and he's so much better than where he was. I thought we were going to lose him in skilled nursing, because he just wasn't participating in his own care. So he's back up to where he needs to be, and I'm happy about that.

Steve: 12:23

That's unusual. Usually, if the trend starts down, it doesn't come back.

Ruth Ann: 12:27

That's why. Yeah,

Steve: 12:28

That's terrific news. Well, let's go back to your role in the support group. What was it like in the beginning for you? You said it was a little difficult talking. How did you find your voice?

Ruth Ann: 12:38

I just tried. I mean, I thought, well, these people are all putting their stuff out there, so I'll put my stuff out there and see how it goes. When I first started with the group, it was, introduce yourself and tell us what your role is. And I always felt like, and I've said this before, I don't feel like a caregiver, because I don't live with my person. Most people live with their loved one that they're caring for. And to me, that's hard, that's full time, that's 24/7. So I don't feel like I'm one of them.

Virginia: 13:04

You're still a caregiver, though.

Ruth Ann: 13:06

I get that, but it's different when you gotta listen for footsteps in middle of the night, and when you've got to make sure the front door is not being open and things like that. I'm lucky that my parents moved to a continuing care facility probably six years ago, so lot of things are taken care of that I don't need to think about. So as far as me getting back to your question about talking in the group, I'm still uncomfortable to tell you the truth, because I feel funny talking about myself with people that are really in the trenches.

Steve: 13:35

Okay, well, that's a great segue into, what are the dynamics of a group? How does it work? How do you make sure that everybody gets a chance to participate?

Ruth Ann: 13:43

The groups that I've been involved in, with other leaders, with other facilitators, we kind of do our group the same way because I didn't have any experience doing it any other way, and it's the same people that were in that group that morphed into our group. The only reason we morphed into our group is because one of their people retired, so we only got them two Fridays a month instead of four Fridays a month. And there was a need- I think it was probably around the holidays. We just decided we kind of really wanted this group every Friday, so we just picked up the other Fridays. And I didn't volunteer, I was kind of nominated to be the person.

Virginia: 14:17

That's a compliment.

Ruth Ann: 14:18

Well, I don't know if it was you talk enough already, so you might as well just-

Steve: 14:23

Now, wait a minute. This is the same person that says she was nervous talking-

Ruth Ann: 14:27

Yeah.

Steve: 14:27

Now you've got elected into a position as a group leader, because you talk too much?

Ruth Ann: 14:32

And I'm still uncomfortable, but as far as making sure everybody gets their turn, we just kind of patterned it. I was hoping it would be more conversational in our group, and we are a little more flexible in that area, but we really do run it like whoever signed on to zoom at first. I would just make a list in order, and we make sure, and I check in periodically,or I'm trying to check in. Does anybody need to leave early? Should we have you go first, kind of a thing. That's really the only thing we do, other than keep track of when people got in and making sure everybody gets time. '

Steve: 15:01

How do you encourage someone like you or when you are on a first group to come and speak and feel comfortable?

Ruth Ann: 15:08

I think by the time people get to our small group, they've already been in the other group. We haven't really had anybody come into our group that hasn't been in another group before. So I guess.

Steve: 15:19

Well, how about when you were in the large group. How did you see other people who followed you start to find their voice?

Ruth Ann: 15:25

I think you just watch other people, and you listen, and you realize that everybody's there doing the same thing. Very often if we have somebody new in the group, we all introduce ourselves and give a little, very slight background of who we're caring for and how that came. You know, that way the new person gets to know us, and then they probably feel comfortable sharing a little bit too.

Steve: 15:45

Yeah, I found myself- I'm a little bit more outgoing than you might be-

Ruth Ann: 15:49

Oh, yeah.

Steve: 15:51

But I felt like it didn't work if people didn't share, and I had to be careful not to share too much. But I think it was if the dynamic is the group, if you don't talk and you don't participate, then you can't really make everybody else feel comfortable about it. It's a dynamic that starts when everybody gets involved. Did you find that to be the case?

Ruth Ann: 16:14

I think the group works when the group is all sharing, because then you can all trust, you know, everybody's talking, everybody's giving their opinions and views and their story. So a group won't work if only one or two people talk. Is that what you're saying?

Steve: 16:29

Well, I meant, I think as a person who's participating in a group, you should go into a group with a sense that, "Okay, I'vegot to be prepared to share when it's comfortable. And the longer I'm in the group, the more comfortable I'll be, but I can't just participate in the group." And we never said that to anybody-

Ruth Ann: 16:46

Right.

Steve: 16:47

-that you have to talk. But I think it became part of second nature, which is like, you know, peer group, maybe a little bit. And I was curious whether or not your groups were operating that way.

Ruth Ann: 16:58

I think that when you are finally in an environment where everybody has an idea of what you're going through. It's morecomforting. Out in the general world, people don't really, people don't get it. So you're hesitant to bring stuff up, because they ask questions like "Well, couldn't you just.." And you're like, "No, and I don't want to explain why, because it's too long." So I think when you're in a group where people get it, it's a lot different.

Steve: 17:23

Speaking about getting it, what's some of the most challenging conversations that you've had, either in your larger group when you first joined or in running a group?

Ruth Ann: 17:33

Well just talking about death, talking about when to take people off certain medications, is that the right thing to do is it not? Guilt about maybe making that decision or not making the decision. Feelings of loneliness when you've got somebody sitting right next to you. Spouses,there's a lot of spouses in our group, and I can't even imagine what that's like, the whole role has changed. I'm just really fascinated by watching the men, because the men in my group are from a generation where not that far back, but a generation where typically the man was earning the money, the wife was more a supportive role. I don't know if I can say that?

Steve: 18:10

Sure you can.

Ruth Ann: 18:10

But you know what I mean? They're not necessarily the nurturer, and now they have come to be a nurturer. And I'm fascinated, and I see the transition, then you have to tell them, "Gosh, I'm so, so excited to see you, because you're making this journey all by yourself, and you're figuring it out." Because you see people that are, you know, they first get in, or they first encounter something, and it's rigid."Well, she needs to be taking her pills at this time, and she needs to take a nap.." And then they learn, and everybody's happier if you can be a little more flexible.

Virginia: 18:40

Didn't you find it took a little while to get men to share as much as probably women are. Women share more easily, it seems to me.

Steve: 18:51

Well actually, I started in a women's group at the facility. Oh, I shouldn't say a women's group. It was just me and only other women who came. I don't think it was designated as a woman's group. Yeah, I think that was easier for them to talk about their own personal situation. I think for guys, that's the hardest thing, they're comfortable. We used to laugh in our group because there was a newbie. He would only talk about his wife and the situation. He would never talk about himself. Getting guys to unload about their own personal feelings and situations was hard. Once that was broken,I think guys felt much more comfortable.

Virginia: 19:28

Interesting.

Ruth Ann: 19:28

I'm glad you said that. I'm going to pay more attention to that, but you're right.

Steve: 19:32

Well we all learn in different ways. Speaking of learning, I want to cover a couple of key questions. How was joining a support group changed your approach to caregiving?

Ruth Ann: 19:42

Well, I'm not as scared. I mean thinking about outcomes and whatnot, because I feel like there's path or there's resources. Everybody brings something else to the table. It's not just where we started with Alzheimer's Orange County. Everybody reaches out to different resources, and we all become a community of resources. How has it changed? It'schanged, because I just basically feel a little more confident in the whole process, instead of wondering, "What the heck? Okay, well, I'll try this, or I'll try that." I can approach it more intelligently, if that makes any sense at all. Feels more intelligently. It may not look like it, but it feels like it.

Steve: 20:16

You used the word confidence. And I think you.. I was like, "What am I in for?"

Ruth Ann: 20:21

Exactly.

Steve: 20:22

I had no idea. And the more I talked to other people, the more I realized that, you know, I wasn't doing such a bad job. And I gave my confidence to me about feeling like I could move forward. And as it progressed, I knew a little bit more about what was coming, which was helpful. So I think confidence is a big thing that you get from a support group.

Ruth Ann: 20:42

I watch people that come in to the big group, the first group, and they're usually at their wit's end because they haven't had the resources and they haven't had the support. It's nice to see them feel a sense of comfort and a light at the end of the tunnel kind of a thing.

Steve: 20:58

Let's explain so our audience understands when you talk about the big group, that's the main online group that's meeting twice a month?

Ruth Ann: 21:05

Yes.

Steve: 21:06

And then your group, your smaller group, is meeting the other two times a month.

Ruth Ann: 21:11

Or three, depending if there's three Fridays, yeah.

Steve: 21:13

Wow, that's a lot of meetings.

Ruth Ann: 21:15

It is a lot.

Virginia: 21:15

Wait, they're different groups.

Steve: 21:17

It's a subgroup.

Virginia: 21:18

It's a subgroup, okay.

Steve: 21:20

Would that be a fair statement?

Ruth Ann: 21:21

Yeah, because all the people in the small subgroup basically came from the bigger group. You know, we didn't recruit people, although there's no reason why we can't. It just happened that way, and it, I don't want it to get big, because it's just me, and I'm not a professional facilitator. I'm just like-

Virginia: 21:36

What's the number of people?

Ruth Ann: 21:38

We can have, 7 to 13/14, something like that.

Virginia: 21:41

Okay?

Ruth Ann: 21:42

And sometimes in the big group, they have two facilitators running that group. Now, sometimes they have to split it in half because they're afraid not everybody will get a chance to share. So we start out together, then they split it in half, and then we all come back at the end.

Steve: 21:55

That's cool. Were you ever afraid of breaking down emotionally in your group?

Ruth Ann: 21:59

I don't think so.

Steve: 22:00

Did you?

Ruth Ann: 22:01

I think I have.

Steve: 22:02

And what was that like?

Ruth Ann: 22:03

I can't even- it was a non event if it happened. That's not something I'm scared of.

Steve: 22:08

Did you cry?

Ruth Ann: 22:08

I may have probably, I'm a crier, so probably, or at least, teared up or something. Yeah.

Steve: 22:14

Is it okay, in your estimation? Do others cry?

Ruth Ann: 22:17

Yeah.

Steve: 22:18

Is it healthy?

Ruth Ann: 22:19

I think so. To release. I think it's important for other people to see you get emotional too, or angry or anything else.

Steve: 22:26

Okay, let's talk about some advice to caregivers. You're doing a great job, by the way. What would you wish you had known earlier about the caregiving journey that you learned in any fashion, but maybe as a part of the group?

Ruth Ann: 22:40

That there's help out there, that you don't have to feel alone. Really nice if you have family members who are interested in helping, because I've seen where that hasn't happened, and it's so sad when people have to fight their family members just to get the best for their person, their loved one.

Steve: 22:54

Yeah we spoke a little bit about that. I'm not gonna go down that hole, because that's a dark hole. Well, you're caregiving indirectly for your dad now, but you're still caregiving for your mom, right? So it doesn't go away.

Ruth Ann: 23:07

It doesn't go away because there's surgeries and there's pancreatitis, there's all kinds of things that happen, and when they hit boom, boom, boom, you don't have a time to catch your breath.

Steve: 23:19

What advice would you give to caregivers who are hesitant to join a group?

Ruth Ann: 23:23

Give it a try. It's the only way to do it is to jump in and give it a try.

Steve: 23:27

Anything else that you would say about it?

Ruth Ann: 23:29

Try and be honest, try and share. Listen to what other people are saying, because it will help you at some point down the line, probably, and just be open, be open to the experience.

Steve: 23:39

I was going to ask you this question, because I watched a guy in our group feel the same way you did, overwhelmed. The group was a very active group at the time he joined, and he was a note taker, and he was busy writing notes, and at the end of it, you could just see him close up, not only his book, but almost his mind. Like, I'm out of my element. I'm overwhelmed. You feel any of those feelings? Did you see that happen in your groups?

Ruth Ann: 24:02

I felt that way myself in the first two that I went to, I tried again. I tried again. I just I've been in therapy myself before, and the first time is always awkward and weird, but if you feel like you want to reach out for help, you just kind of have to keep trying until you find something that works. Might not be the right group. Maybe you need to try a different group. Maybe you need to do an online you know, there's so many different ways to get help or get support. There's so many different support groups that if one doesn't work, try another one, because it's worth it. You learn so much.

Steve: 24:33

Ruth Ann, you talked a great deal with lots of good information about support groups. But if you had to think in just a caregiver itself, what piece of advice would you give to caregivers?

Ruth Ann: 24:43

The advice I would give would be to be open to learning as much as you can about whatever situation you're going through, but mostly to take care of yourself. It's something that I find great difficulty in. I've been sick a lot in the last few months because I'm not taking care of myself. Can't live on protein bars and peanuts and lack of sleep for very long. I've tried. I know it's hard to do because you think you can weather the storm, but there's always another storm. There's always a reason to put yourself last, and it's harder to do than to say. But if you can put yourself at least somewhere up on that ladder instead of at the bottom rung, you'll do much better.

Steve: 25:22

Well, I think that's a pretty good concluding comment. Virginia, any last comments?

Virginia: 25:27

Well this just confirms my thoughts that I should have searched out more different support groups. If that one wasn't a fit for me, there was probably one out there that would have been and I would have benefited.

Ruth Ann: 25:40

I can understand your hesitancy to try again, though, because I felt the way you did. It's not that the fit wasn't right, it's the content was frightening.

Virginia: 25:49

It was frightening.

Ruth Ann: 25:49

There wouldn't be any reason to reach out again if you expected the content to be frightening still. Just a different group, right?

Virginia: 25:56

Right, right.

Ruth Ann: 25:57

You kind of have to advocate for yourself. I guess it's really what you need to do. And I don't think caregivers do that much.

Steve: 26:02

Yeah, I think that that's an important point that you're making, that the group is can be challenging and can be helpful, and it's getting over the challenging parts to get to the help, and the help far exceeds the initial challenges you'll feel potentially but understand that it might be a little bit because you're entering something that's already going on, but the help is so much greater than the challenge. Well, thank you again. Ruth Ann, you were spectacular.

Virginia: 26:30

Thank you so much.

Ruth Ann: 26:31

You're very welcome.

Virginia: 26:32

Really, really interesting information and very helpful.

Ruth Ann: 26:35

Thank you.

Steve: 26:35

I just wanted to mention that Virginia and I are always interested in topics that you might have. I think this is number 47 of podcasts that we've done, and it's available everywhere. Spotlight on Care is available through all sorts of podcast services. And now we have a YouTube page, and you can go to that page and subscribe, and we'll be informing you about new podcasts that come up, just in case you might miss them. So thanks for taking the time and listening to us and again. Thank you. Ruth Ann, you were really good.

Ruth Ann: 27:09

Thank you very much.

Virginia: 27:09

Thanks Ruth Ann.

Steve: 27:11

Spotlight on Care is produced by the University of California, Irvine, Institute on Memory Impairments and

Neurological Disorders: 27:17

UCI MIND. Interviews focus on personal caregiving journeys, and may not represent the views of UCI MIND. Individuals concerned about cognitive disorders, prevention or treatment should seek expert diagnosis and care. Please subscribe to the Spotlight on Care podcast wherever you listen. For more information, visit mind.uci.edu.