Ep12 P1-The Other Side of Diagnosis: Alzheimer’s, Caregivers, and Community (Part 1)

In Part 1 of this special two-part episode, Rich talks with David Sobel, Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter, about the realities of Alzheimer’s, early signs, the role of caregivers, and how local families can access free support. Learn about breakthrough treatments, volunteer opportunities, and the incredible work happening right here in Westchester County.

Key Highlights:

• The first step to take if you think a loved one may have dementia (hint: it’s free and 24/7)
• How the Alzheimer’s Association is funding research while offering real-time support for caregivers
• Opportunities to get involved in the fight against Alzheimer's

Support our Walk to End Alzheimer’s team - Join the EnRich Your Life Podcast as we walk to raise funds for Alzheimer’s care and research.

EnRich Your Life Podcast Walk To End Alzheimer's Team Page

Want to Know More About Our Guest:
David Sobel
Executive Director
Alzheimer's Association, Hudson Valley Chapter
dsobel@alz.org
alz.org/hudsonvalley

Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-272-3900

Source: All statistics mentioned are from ALZ.org, the Alzheimer’s Association.

Filmed and recorded at Studio on the Avenue/LMC Media
Mamaroneck, NY
https://lmcmedia.org/
Produced and Edited by Vekterly
https://www.vekterly.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice, a recommendation for any specific investment, strategy, or financial decision, or legal advice. By engaging with this material, you acknowledge and agree with its intended purpose. Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Neither Rich Leimgruber, the EnRich Your Life Podcast, nor its representatives are advising or suggesting any specific action or decision. Before making any financial, legal, or tax decisions, individuals should consult their own financial advisor, accountant, legal professional, or other qualified professional before making financial decisions. All opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any affiliated financial institutions. The views shared may not be suitable for every individual or situation. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk. Please note that any strategies discussed may not be suitable for all investors, and the appropriateness of any specific investment or strategy will depend on individual circumstances.

Chapters

• 0:54 Rich introduces the “sandwich generation” and the emotional toll of Alzheimer’s.
• 4:50 Understanding Alzheimer’s vs. Dementia
• 6:00 First Steps If You Suspect Alzheimer’s
• 13:00 How Caregivers Can Get Support
• 18:00 Walk to End Alzheimer’s & Local Impact

Transcript

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to Enrich Your Life, where Financial Wisdom meets everyday life. Hosted by Richard Lyme Gruber, a financial advisor with over 25 years of experience. This podcast brings you powerful insights to make smart choices and build your financial future. Get ready to dive into practical strategies to grow, protect, and shape your financial story.

[00:00:23] One podcast at a time. 

[00:00:25] Rich L: Hello and welcome to Enrich Your Life podcast. Uh, my name is Rich Leimgruber and I'm your host. And today, we're gonna be discussing something that can be very emotional to some, it can be very traumatizing to others. And for everyone else, it's gonna be very surprising what we're gonna be talking about today.

[00:00:44] We're living in a time where there's an increasing age population here in Westchester County and throughout our country, and we're known. At our age as being in a sandwich generation, a sandwich generation means [00:01:00] that not only are we taking care of our children and making sure that they get to school every day and doing the things they need to do, but we're also taking care of our parents.

[00:01:09] And one of the things that we've found is that as we're in this sandwich generation. We have to choose on whether or not we're gonna be going to work and taking care of our families, or possibly not going to work and taking care of our parents. As some of you know, I volunteer for the executive leadership team with the Walk to End Alzheimer's here in Westchester County.

[00:01:34] The statistics of those who are affected by this horrible disease is scary and in itself. My guest today is someone who knows all too well, those statistics and what is happening behind the scenes with research and up and coming drugs being approved by the FDA to help slow the progress of Alzheimer's.

[00:01:54] Unfortunately, there's no cure yet, which is the ultimate goal of the Alzheimer's Association. David [00:02:00] Sobel is the executive Director for the Alzheimer's Association, Hudson Valley Chapter. The Alzheimer's Association is the second biggest provider of funding research only behind the US Federal Government and the NIH or National Institute of Health.

[00:02:15] In 2024, the association committed a record 109 million in total annual research spending, including more than 76 million in grants for new scientific studies. They are investing more than $430 million in over 1100 active projects across 56 countries spanning six continents. Their funding supports a diverse research, portfolio of research.

[00:02:41] From understanding disease mechanisms to developing interventions and improving care practices. With no further ado, I'd like to welcome David Sobel and thank you so much for being here. 

[00:02:52] David S: Thank you for having me, rich. It's pleasure to, pleasure to be here. 

[00:02:55] Rich L: I feel like I have a celebrity with me because you have a lot going on 

[00:02:59] David S: Only in my [00:03:00] own mind.

[00:03:01] Rich L: Only in your own mind.

[00:03:02] I think it's extremely important to talk about, and there's a lot to talk about from people's whys to the support and to the research and all of the ways the amazing volunteers and those who donate help with the cause. So. Tell us a little bit about David. What inspired you to transition and what did you do before the Alzheimer's Association?

[00:03:26] David S: Sure. Thanks for asking, rich. Yeah. I have been in nonprofit my entire career. So I've worked for organizations such as National Multiple Sclerosis Society, JCC Association. American Red Cross. And now for the last almost nine years, I've been working for Alzheimer's Association, Hudson Valley Chapter.

[00:03:44] And it's really been a privilege and an honor to, to be in this arena. I learned early on in my career that I could do what I love to do, but also I could help people. And so this was something that I've. Kind of committed my career to, which is helping people while at the same [00:04:00] time, you know, furthering my career.

[00:04:02] Rich L: Yeah, and, and obviously working with nonprofits is you have to have a little special something in your heart, right? So thank you for all that you're doing. For those who are the caregivers, for those who are suffering with any kind of ailments out there that really depend on, uh, nonprofit organizations like the Alzheimer's Association, it's extremely important to, to have those organizations out there.

[00:04:23] So thank you very much for doing that. In 2025, it's estimated that 7.2 million Americans, age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's, and nearly two thirds of them are women. Certain demographics, including black and Hispanic, Americans are at a higher risk for Alzheimer's in Westchester County here, 13.6% of Westchester County residents age 65 have already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

[00:04:51] I think there's a lot of confusion. About what Alzheimer's is versus what dementia is. And I wanted to ask you if you can clarify for the [00:05:00] listeners what's the difference and. Explain what Alzheimer's is. 

[00:05:03] David S: Sure. Absolutely. So Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia. Mm-hmm. So the way to look at it is dementia is the umbrella.

[00:05:10] And so underneath that umbrella, there are many, many, many different types, of diseases underneath there. And Alzheimer's disease is the most. Pro prolific the highest, , incident, more than 70% of people, have Alzheimer's, as that their type of dementia. , There's also, there, there's many other different types of dementia underneath that dementia umbrella.

[00:05:33] Rich L: Right. Okay. And so if one of our listeners is sitting here and thinking to, to themselves like, does my loved one have a dementia issue or an Alzheimer's, what? What are some of the recommendations that somebody can do to actually start looking into the possibility of somebody being di diagnosed with Alzheimer's?

[00:05:53] David S: Yeah. So for, for the first step, we always recommend to, for people to call [00:06:00] our helpline. Okay. We have, in Chicago, our home office is based in Chicago. So Hudson Valley chapter is one of 75 chapters Wow. Throughout the country. And in Chicago we have what we call the contact center.

[00:06:12] And so the contact center has. Many employees there and they speak many, many different lang languages and they're open 24 7, 365. Okay. So 1 802 7 2 3900. 1 800, 2 7 2 3900. That's the first step for anyone. So you call that number, you talk to a master's level social worker on the other end of the line, and they can help you with that first step and any question at any time.

[00:06:40] And the example I always give is, Thanksgiving, you're there with your whole family and, then three in the morning you're awake and you're thinking, okay, you know what? Grandma didn't really look right today. Today, at dinner she, she sounded different. She, something was different.

[00:06:54] I have questions. And it's three in the morning. You can pick up the phone and call, +1 [00:07:00] 800-272-3900, talk to somebody on the other end of the line. And then after you talk to them and you get. That, all that information, they can also refer you to our care consultants that we have locally here in the Hudson Valley.

[00:07:11] So you can talk to the, to people. You can set up a care consultation here in the Hudson Valley, at one of our offices. So we have two offices. We have one, that's right here in Westchester, that's in purchase. And then we have one, our northern office is in Poughkeepsie. So you can set up an appointment in either one of our offices or we can do a virtual.

[00:07:30] Meeting, we can talk, on the phone, we can do a Zoom call, or we even meet in a coffee shop. But the important thing is to have that conversation so that you can get that care plan because they can help you with that care plan. They can help you with referrals. We don't endorse anyone, but we certainly do help.

[00:07:47] Where do I find this? Where do I find that? And we wanna make sure that we are here for people. That's the most important thing, is that we are here for people. We, all of our programs and services are free. 

[00:07:57] We're not trying to sell anybody anything.

[00:07:59] We're [00:08:00] just trying to help. And that's the way you start off is by calling that contact center, 

[00:08:04] Rich L: Me personally, I have recommended, several clients to call up, and the feedback has been phenomenal, which is one of the reasons why I decided to join e and volunteer for the organization because it's very, very far.

[00:08:19] And few between, finding a resource that can help somebody who's not only stressed, but wondering what the rest of their life is gonna look like. Sure. And that's not only for the person may be diagnosed with it, but also the caregivers. Absolutely. 

[00:08:33] David S: How we talked about that sandwich, generation before, right?

[00:08:36] Imagine how difficult that is, dealing with a young child while also dealing with an aging parent, who perhaps has Alzheimer's. I talked to somebody on the phone yesterday who's both of her parents. Both of her parents have Alzheimer's. Oh my God. Yeah. So imagine what that, that is like as a caregiver to be able, to have your job, to have your kids, to have two aging parents with Alzheimer's, you, where do you turn?

[00:08:58] To start with is you turn [00:09:00] to us.

[00:09:00] Rich L: Knowing that we have a growing problem in Westchester County, especially among women, how does the Hudson Valley chapter strategic planning and outreach efforts, what are you guys planning on doing to make sure that people are aware of what you guys are doing?

[00:09:16] David S: So we have. Our staff members, we have, are broken up. I mentioned the care consultants before. So we have these wonderful care consultants who help people. Then we also have these community engagement staff members. , So the community engagement staff members, they are going out into the community.

[00:09:32] And they are providing programs and services for people living with Alzheimer's, their families, their caregivers. So you might go to the local library. And you might see a program there, know there are 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's, or you might go to your local farmer's market or a street fair and you might see people there at table.

[00:09:49] And so we only have 25 staff members in the Hudson Valley, so of course we also have wonderful volunteers like yourself. Who are out there and who are helping in so many different ways. [00:10:00] And so a couple of the different ways, that, that you can volunteer. We have a community educator position, so there's a training involved for that.

[00:10:08] We ask people to do 12. Trainings per year and to be out there and to do one of these programs. So instead of a staff member doing know the 10 warning signs or Healthy Body, healthy brain, you might have a volunteer who will be at the library or the local community center doing that program. Then we also have a position called community representative.

[00:10:28] We community rep for short. And the community rep will be the, that. That volunteer, who's at the farmer's market, who's at that table and who's handing out brochures and helping people with questions that they might have. So it's this, an army of volunteers, that, that really, they are their true heroes, in all of this , who are giving their time to make sure that people are aware of.

[00:10:52] What we have to offer at Alzheimer's Association. So as this growing, you mentioned, this growing epidemic. 7.2 million [00:11:00] people right now. Over 15 million people projected by 2050. This is an issue that is not going away. And, having these volunteers on our side, it makes a huge difference.

[00:11:12] Rich L: And so looking ahead, what's the primary goal for your local, Hudson Valley chapter in combating Alzheimer's disease? And what challenges are you anticipating? 

[00:11:22] David S: So overall, put ourselves out of business. 

[00:11:26] Rich L: Great. 

[00:11:26] David S: That's, that's what we'd like to do. 

[00:11:28] Rich L: So you'd never hear that. 

[00:11:29] David S: So yes, I'd like to be, I'd like to be out of a job.

[00:11:31] My father-in-law always used to say, you know, well, what happens if you, if you cure Alzheimer's, you know you'll be out of a job. What will you do? Then? I say, if I'm part of the team that cures Alzheimer's, I don't think I'll have a problem. Finding another job. So that's our ultimate goal.

[00:11:46] Of course. So we go down two different paths. You mentioned research before. You talked a little bit about, you stole my thunder with the, oh, I'm so sorry. No, no, that's good. That's good. We're gonna get back into some research, but it's only a few things that I have memorized. So over 1100 projects, 56 different countries, $430 [00:12:00] million that we have throughout world.

[00:12:01] That's incredible. The world, obviously this is not just in the United States, this is also. All over the world. So that's our first path that we go down is that research path and making sure that we are trying to find a cause, trying to find a cure. Now when I started almost nine years ago, I would've also said finding, trying to find a way to slow the progression of the disease, right?

[00:12:25] But amazingly in the last, the progress that we've made in the last three years. We ha we now have multiple treatments that can slow the progression of the disease. So this is a huge breakthrough and it provides hope. Now it's not a cure, right? And I want to be very clear about that. And it's not huge, it's six to 10 months of additional cognitive function.

[00:12:51] There are side effects. It's expensive, so it's not perfect. But we want to give people, we wanna make sure to give people the [00:13:00] option. We want people to have the opportunity to use these treatments to get these treatments if they want to. So for example, if you have a child who's gonna be walking down the aisle.

[00:13:09] Getting married, in the next, four or five months maybe it's worth it to you to take these treatments and to try to get additional time, of cognition. So that's the first path that we're going down is this. The research path. Mm-hmm. Um, and I can talk a little bit more about that later.

[00:13:25] Then of course the second path is the care and support path, because at the same time as we're trying to get rid of this disease, we are also needing to take care of people living with Alzheimer's, their families, their caregivers, right here in the Hudson Valley. 

[00:13:38] Rich L: My story and how I originally got involved was when, in a matter of weeks I had three clients reach out to me and they said, rich, unfortunately a loved one was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's and our people we were talking to basically told us to Google what. Things are out [00:14:00] there, what resources are out there.

[00:14:01] And obviously, they were left to leave the doctor's office and go looking around and they called me because they thought maybe I would know. And that's how I got involved and I wanna reaching out to you guys and felt like it was such a, an impact for me to be able to help my clients, that I felt like I needed to look more into this.

[00:14:21] Caregivers often face significant emotional and physical challenges with many providing unpaid care. And it's estimated that the time that's needed to care for all the loved ones that are have been diagnosed is valued at billions of dollars annually and globally. So what resources and support systems does the Alzheimer's Association offer to alleviate the burdens faced by those caregivers?

[00:14:45] David S: So caregivers, being a caregiver is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, right? Mm-hmm. You talk about a banker or a lawyer, but being a caregiver, I talked about it before, being in that sandwich generation. One of the things that we do is we have what we call time [00:15:00] away grants.

[00:15:01] These are respite grants for caregivers. So caregivers can come to us, they can apply for one of these, time away grants, and it can be a thousand dollars that you can receive. And you can up to a thousand dollars. And you can, have, for example, you can have your loved one go to an adult daycare or center for the day, and you can have the day to yourself, because caregiving is a 24 7 job.

[00:15:24] That's one way that we, a very tangible way that we're able to, to help. The caregivers that, we work with. Obviously another way is through our support groups. So our support groups are extremely important for caregivers to be able to talk to others who are in the same situation that they're in, to compare notes to compare challenges that they have and to compare, successes as well.

[00:15:47] What worked for you, what didn't? And really just to have a shoulder to, to lean on. We have wonderful support group facilitators. A few are staff, but most are volunteers. So again, talking about the, this is gonna be a [00:16:00] running theme through our conversation is these volunteers.

[00:16:03] And so this is another way that our volunteers, I mentioned before the community educators, the community representatives, and now we have support group facilitators, who are trained again to, to be able to run a support. Group like this and to be able to help caregivers. And then the last piece is, of course, those care consultations that I mentioned before.

[00:16:21] Being able to work with those care, those caregivers to help them with a care plan, to help them with, okay, this is how to, to help yourself financially. This is how to. Doctors are the right ones to go to. All of these different pieces are what our care consultants can do to help the family.

[00:16:39] And oftentimes it's not just one person. It's oftentimes, the caregiver and a family member. It can be multiple people. It can be people from out of state. Oftentimes you'll have, let's say you have one person, here in, in Maac, and you have another person. Who, the sister lives in Georgia.

[00:16:55] So we bring those people together, bring the family together and talk to 'em about what their [00:17:00] options are so that they can work together as a family to help their loved one. 

[00:17:03] Rich L: I believe you mentioned before the need for constant research. And as we all know, research requires funding.

[00:17:09] Funding is money. Right? And so, indeed, indeed, um, a wise man once told me that. If you have time, treasure, or talent, you should be. Providing those to those who might not have that. And I think, if you have time, you should volunteer. If you don't have time, but you have treasure, you should donate.

[00:17:29] If you don't have time , or treasure, then you might have talent and that's where you might want to have a, some sort of a leadership role. And so one of the things I've always explained to not only. My clients, but maybe some small business owners. There's no better way of networking than getting involved in an organization that is near and dear to so many people.

[00:17:50] And when you're next to somebody and you are talking to them about their own experiences, it's an immediate bond and you'll always remember that person and it's a great way of [00:18:00] networking. So I always recommend. If you have time, volunteer and you'll feel great and it'll come back threefold for you, volunteering.

[00:18:09] Absolutely. Your chapter here in the Hudson Valley has some pretty impressive events, right? And those events are all to provide, the local. Population, just awareness. And so I wanted to ask you if you can share some of those events that you hold here in Westchester County?

[00:18:26] David S: Sure, I'd be happy to. We have so many different, events going on. So I'll start with, all of the small events. 

[00:18:32] Rich L: Right. We'll get to the big one later. Yeah, yeah.

[00:18:34] David S: We'll get to the big one later. Exactly. Okay. When you, when we talk about events, there, there's the development side of things, and which we'll get to.

[00:18:40] But then there's also the care and support side. So we have so many social programs and educational programs. So we have people who will be going to, something called. Some, something for alls, which is, an arts, type of experience. So an event where they can go and they can do dance, they can do music.

[00:18:58] We have something called [00:19:00] Swell Social Club, for people in early stage Alzheimer's, where they come together and they'll have, caregivers in one area and then they'll have. People living with Alzheimer's in another area, which then they'll be doing, activities. That's, something that we just restarted and that's right here in Rye.

[00:19:16] And then we have so many different, educational pieces all along the way. We just had an incredible, diversity, equity, and inclusion event. This past, about two weeks ago. We had an incredible event, that was also, here in Westchester. We had our. Diversity, equity and inclusion. Vice president from the home office flew in for this event.

[00:19:36] Just, an amazing event talking about Richard Lui book. Richard Lui, a newscaster for, I believe it's for NBC, we do all of these different types of events.

[00:19:46] And also, last month, last month was very busy. Last month we had an event, called the Research Forum. And so that, took place at Tappen Hill Manor, over in Tarrytown. And we had almost 200 people there. And we had research, we had several researchers there. We had a [00:20:00] researcher from our home office.

[00:20:01] We have a medical side med. Medical science team, we called Med Sci. And so we had our, one of our doctors from Med Sci who, she, who she came in, we had two other people on the panel talking about wonderful, advancements. And, just an an incredible event. Now what we're going to be doing is we're gonna be doing mini conferences, so stay tuned for that. Great.

[00:20:20] We want to, we wanna see as many people as possible and as many areas as possible. So instead of having that one big event, we're gonna try to kind of take our show on the road, throughout the Hudson Valley. And, we're gonna be having people coming to all of those. So we have so many different events like that.

[00:20:34] Social programming and educational programming. I mentioned before, the libraries and the, and the community rooms and, the know the 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's and things of that nature. And of course, you can always go to our website for all of that information as well, alz.org/hudsonvalley.

[00:20:50] To the big events that we, the big events. Yes. So I'll start with the biggest. So our signature event is Walk to End Alzheimer's. So Walk to End Alzheimer's has, I believe it's [00:21:00] 662 walks throughout the country. Great. Five of those walks are here in the Hudson Valley. So we have a walk in Rockland County that takes place at, Boulder Stadium, which is called Clover Stadium.

[00:21:11] But where the Bold New York Boulders play, that they're all in October. 

[00:21:14] So they're all on different, different, days. Okay. So I, I don't have the dates memorized, but, we take, so October 5th is Westchester, which we'll get to in a moment.

[00:21:23] And then we take the next weekend off for Columbus Day. And then we have, a. The Duchess Ulster walk, is that the following Saturday? Then the Rockland Walk is the following Sunday. Then we do Orange Sullivan the following Saturday after that, and then the following Sunday after that, we do Putnam.

[00:21:37] We have those, those are our five walks. And Westchester, is our largest walk by far. In terms of people, 1400 people who attend, and of, in terms of dollars. So in terms of dollars, Westchester raises more than the other four walks combined. Wow. And less as it 

[00:21:53] Rich L: probably should, being one of the richest counties in the world, in the country, right?

[00:21:57] David S: Indeed, indeed. 

[00:21:58] And it's funny, I'll tell you in a second. [00:22:00] So, and Westchester, for the first time ever. This past year, Westchester raised over a million dollars. That's great. Just by itself. And overall for the Hudson Valley, our five walks raised over $1.7 million last year for the cause.

[00:22:12] Congrats. So now I mentioned 662 walks nationwide. Financially, in terms of dollars raised, Westchester was number 12. Wow. In the country. And it's funny, I was saying it's funny, you mentioned Westchester County, obviously an affluent, county, and we're up against cities. Yeah.

[00:22:29] So when you look at who's around us, it's okay, we, last year we beat out Houston. Richmond, Virginia was right behind us. We're right near Baltimore. I mean, you know, there it almost 

[00:22:39] Rich L: seems like this little competitiveness when it comes to the walks. There just a little, 

[00:22:42] David S: there might be, there might be.

[00:22:44] That's a, a little internal thing, that we have. We have, we, we have our top 30 is a big deal to be in the top 30. They reveal the top 30 at our, conference that we have, our leadership summit, which happens in January or February every year. And so they reveal the top 30 and [00:23:00] where you're standing is in the top 30 is a big deal and Right.

[00:23:02] Westchester, I'm proud to say, in the, nine year, almost nine years that I've been here, we have been in the top 30 every single year that I've been here. We started off at number 30, and we've worked our way. It's hard to move up even one, because so many of these walks are doing incredible work, because they're raising money for the mission and this is what people are doing out there, right?

[00:23:21] People understand that this is an epidemic and they need to help with the fundraising because all of our, I mentioned before. All of our programs and services are free. So how do you do that? We actually get some terrific grants from New York State. So about 40% of our funding comes from two grants from New York State, which is really important and really terrific,

[00:23:39] Obviously, concerning these days, with everything that's going on with, with cutbacks, et cetera, et cetera. So we are always concerned for our funding. But the 60%, the other 60% comes from our fundraising efforts, like the walk. And so the walk is not just a, a fundraising event.

[00:23:56] It's also a community builder.