EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Bonnie Varner

Bonnie Varner joins host J. Chad Parker on East Texas Unfiltered for a candid conversation about a topic that touches nearly everyone's family. As CEO of the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County, Bonnie explains what Alzheimer’s and dementia can look like in real life. She talks about why early screening matters and the heavy emotional and financial burdens caregivers carry. She also shares how her background in politics and fundraising shaped her leadership and how “no” is not always the end of the conversation.
In this episode, Bonnie walks through the real ways the Alliance supports families across Smith County, from the first worried phone call to long-term care planning. She explains how counseling helps caregivers cope, why memory screenings matter, and how respite scholarships and the Day Club program give families time to rest, work, or simply breathe. The conversation also covers safety tools like Project Lifesaver and the Alliance’s hands-on education for banks, law enforcement, and future medical professionals. If this topic hits close to home, or if you want to support work that stays local, you can learn more through the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County and the annual Butterfly Hope Luncheon.  Be sure to like and subscribe for more episodes of East Texas UNFILTERED.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The preachers have, you know, developed a you know a skill set about asking for money, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Uh now albeit for a good cause, you know, and what uh it's a it's a skill set and a lot of people don't like the rejection. But if you look at the rejection as opportunity and a challenge, no means not now, maybe later.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

I'm gonna tell you something with hey, hey, Bonnie, no means no.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I bet I can turn you.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

I feel like, you know, this isn't the end of my the conversation that that that we're gonna have.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

I'm proud of Vice, I'm proud of Vice.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. I'm your host, Jay Chad Parker. Today we have someone uh with an interesting job. Uh it's a scary job in a way, and it's something that probably touches every single person who listens to this. They know somebody, they have a family member, or they will have someone they know that has this problem. They used to call it the big C, but I think the big A is gonna be the big problem in the future, and we've got to try to do something about it. So we have Bonnie Varner, uh Alzheimer's Alliance of Smith County. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Bonnie, um, let's talk about you. I usually like to uh let the audience know more about the guests first, and then we get to what you do. So tell us uh I know you grew up in Tyler.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Grew up in Tyler, I did.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Um, and then you went to college somewhere, maybe, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I did. I went to the University of Texas, the University of Texas in Austin.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Hook'em horns, hook them horns. After that, okay, did you have any experience with politics being in the Capitol? I did.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

I did. I actually majored in government and psychology at UT. Um didn't really go knowing exactly what my career path would be, but part of my government degree required an internship. And so I was lucky enough to step on board uh K. Bailey Hutcheson's campaign for United States Senate.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

The first one?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Um no, this would have been the third one. So yeah, so her re-election campaign, and interestingly enough, obviously she wanted a landslide on that. Um I was the only I was the only person asked to stay on as a paid intern after that campaign, and my job then became getting her prepared to run for governor against Rick Perry.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

That's interesting. Uh you know, um I I don't have much experience being on a uh obviously a staff or knowing much about it, but day to day uh running a campaign for Kay Bailey Hutchin for a Senate race, what would that entail? What would you be doing all day long?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

So I worked on the finance side of things, the fundraising, and that's really kind of gonna tie my whole story together of how I am the CEO now of the Alliance.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

But they need people that can raise money.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Exactly. All nonprofits need people that are big push.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

I mean, I'm tired of them calling me.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

We're not gonna stop either until you pony up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

There's more uh there's more pressure in Smith County, I think, than any county in the state of Texas for nonprofit donations, right? It feels that way.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

I would agree. It's a I hate to use the word competitive because we're all friendly with one another, but it is if we're looking at it from a business standpoint, raising money in this county, in this city is competitive anyway you cut it. So and we're dealing with a lot of you know different things. Obviously, the economy this year has been interesting. Um, there's a transition of wealth happening, very much so in our community too. People my age are not giving like their parents did.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

And yes, you're not. Uh-uh. But people my age seem to be.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Right, correct. So um and so that it's always a challenge raising money, and it's a really niche profession, honestly, because you think about there are people who are uncomfortable making asks of any kind, but making asks for money is even more challenging, and it takes a a different skill set, really, and a different kind of person.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

So did you raise money for K. Bailey Hutchinson?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

I did, I did. So that's where I got my start, and I think I kind of proved myself on our Senate campaign, and that's why I got asked to be a part of the gubernatorial campaign. So um I went from you know, intern to internship, and I graduated from UT in 2007, right as the recession was hitting.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Um October the stock market went.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Correct. So a lot of my uh friends in college, instead of working on getting a job, they're working in getting into grad school.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

So just to keep out of the workforce.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

To keep out of the workforce. Um and I didn't really want to go that route because I'd also been an intern at Texas Monthly Magazine. And so before I even graduated, UT had a job offer from Texas Monthly Magazine. In fact, I had to take my final exams, my senior year on a Saturday, because I was already working.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Were you what were you going to do for Texas Monthly? Be a writer, a government writer, or what?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

No, I was actually in sales. Uh I was supporting in the ad sales, the nationwide ad sales department and the statewide sales. So for Texas Monthly.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Because you probably uh uh didn't find it hard to ask people for money. Correct. Ask people to buy a subscription?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

I don't take the word no well. So that's that kind of helped me get there.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Aaron Ross Powell But what could you really do as an intern fundraising for K-Bailey Hutcheson? Because you probably wouldn't have a lot of contacts with the people that had the real money, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Um correct. But I was there and a big part of my job was working on events. So, you know, we've all been to campaign fundraisers. I would help plan those, help call people, help follow up. Um, a lot of those bigger campaigns are really fast moving, and so you take pledges. And so one of the things that I got a big start on and that kind of helped prepare me for the future was really calling and following up with pledges. People would pledge a thousand dollars and wouldn't turn it in. And so then I was kind of the like tax collector there.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah, yeah. I I wondered about that. You know, um some people have pledged big money to colleges and not come through. Some people have pledged, I'm sure, to campaigns, but I wondered how prevalent that was because some people um like to have some influence with the politicians and they like to see their money.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Right? I mean Correct.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Um, I mean, there's no secret in politics that uh money talks.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Um it buys access. Whether it should or not, it does, right? I mean, yeah. Somebody will answer my call if I send them 10,000.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Maybe. Depends on the maybe up to the depends on the level there. Maybe 20.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

What about Greg Abbott?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

I'll take your call for five.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

No, uh, I'm sorry. The line's line's line's busy this year, Bonnie. Uh well, that's interesting, you know, that uh that the nonprofit uh like the Alzheimer's Alliance would would be smart enough to, you know, look for you or find you to come in this position. How do you think that happened?

SPEAKER_01 6:52

I am a lot of it was timing, to be honest, but I think I also um before I worked for the alliance, I'd, you know, I'd had my children, was raising a family, but had still had one kind of foot in the uh political world. And I actually moved back to Tyler from New York City, and I didn't think I would get involved in policy politics. And Don Warren, um, he was actually running his mayor campaign against John Nix. He had an opponent, um, he was looking for someone to help on the campaign, and I was here, and um, and so that it that kind of helped get me to the Alzheimer's Alliance because that was kind of my first job out off of you know being a stay-at-home mom. And um, and so that I think my reputation a little bit preceded me there. Um, and then, you know, again, it's such a niche thing, fundraising. So I got into the Alliance because they needed a development director. Um, and there's just not obviously, like you said, there's competition for funds in the county and there's just not a ton of people who do it.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Existing relationships matter too.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Existing relationships.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Especially in Tyler, right? Always.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Word of mouth. Word of mouth is, in my experience, the best way to get hired, um, especially in a community like ours.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

So when you came here uh to Tyler, you when you helped Don Warren, uh was that the uh I mean he he's been the mayor for what two or three times? His the he's in his term limited, I know. Right. But uh did you when did you come and help him? When he first ran?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Correct. He it was a city councilman and um he could have done it on his own, I'm sure, but he had an opponent when I came on. He um John Nix was running against him.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

And then did he drop out or something?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

John Nix did, yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Yeah, but he's back in the game now.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Back in the game.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

I mean, we're about to have a book ban argument coming our way on the mayor. But we are.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yeah, prime debate.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Right now.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

A love affair between an African American Hispanic, 1937, New London, school explosion. This book has ignited this city over yeah, that book shouldn't be in that section. Have you heard this?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Yes, of course I've heard this.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

I mean, have you seen these commercials that have started out already?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Okay, so we're gonna be in for a wild ride between between now and March.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yes, May. Their election's in May.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Oh, it's the primary?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

No, they so the um is a city. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Yeah, we don't have a part, a political affiliation.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Correct. So they will that'll be in May, early May, and there will be a runoff.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

I mean, uh Don has made his feelings clear in the podcast. Okay. I don't know if you ever saw Don's.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

No.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Okay, I interviewed Don and he talked about that. So it's interesting. He also talked about uh a way that he felt like really helped him get elected, and I'm curious now that I know this about you, whether or not you helped him. He said he got a list of everybody who had voted in his city council district, and he wrote every single one of them a letter. Was that your idea?

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Perhaps.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

All right. And people were surprised, and it was like 900 and something people. I mean, it I mean, and he d he he swears he didn't have an auto pen. He uh actually wrote himself.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

And he doesn't I can verify completely no auto pen.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

And uh he he believes that was the difference, but he really uh I don't know if that he had an opponent.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Right. For city council. Yeah, that was not No, I'm talking about the mayor. Oh, mayor. By the time we got around to the election, John Nixon dropped out, so he didn't. But here's the thing, um, and I'll give some free unsolicited campaign strategy. You're always playing ball to set up for the next run. So whether that is you're running for mayor and you eventually want to run for state center. You know, you're you're setting the groundwork. So if you don't have an opponent, you still want to raise money, you still want to put effort in, you still want to lay the groundwork for the next thing if that's what you're aspiring to do.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Aaron Ross Powell Because those accounts you can use going forward.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Right. And well, yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

They raise money and use that to keep going.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yes, and more importantly, your contact with voters is important. Money at the end of the day doesn't win your campaign. The vote is a very good thing.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Somebody has to vote.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

I mean, I try to tell them like Nathaniel Wren, hey, I'm sorry, man, you don't have an opponent. I don't know why I should give you any money.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Right. But you never know what his game book is, like looking forward. And you also don't know how they can use those funds to help others. A lot of um congressmen, senators, governors, they set up packs, they make packs, and they end up donating those funds to someone else. Um in Texas, we have a big down ballot kind of assistance program, I would say. I worked for a PAC in Austin, um the Associated Republicans of Texas, and our whole program was helping um sway influential races in other districts, helping down, you know, down ballot.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Comptroller or somebody that nobody's authorized.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

You know a contentious state rep uh race somewhere else.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Um I mean, we never have one here.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Not here, but you know, the uh border towns, uh outside of the yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Maybe there's a Republican down there that has a chance. Correct. That kind of thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

And the pack that I worked for, we would actually do media training, we would do campaign training, we'd give them funds, we'd also educate them on how to run a campaign. So, you know, you also have all these tiny districts in Texas where you know, 254 counties, right? Yeah, you may not representing a ton of people, um, but you still have a vote in the legislature. It still matters to a party that we are filling, you know, the seats as much as we can uh with our party representative. So um so that that's important when you give to uncontested candidates, like that money may go somewhere else down the road to help some other race that you will care about.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

I mean politics has gotten very technical these days, right, with the money and the thoughts and working together. I mean, right? I mean, there's a lot of collaboration.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Um I mean, because you know, I'm a trial lawyer, obviously. And uh, you know, we as a group, TTLA, uh support uh, you know, some Republicans. Right. Right. I mean, that are uh more, you know, uh sympathetic to some of the issues that that we care about, right? Right, right. So they're getting money from all places, right? Right. Doesn't matter how they get it, they don't care, do they?

SPEAKER_01 13:16

No. No. And and there's a there's a big uh you know, when I was running when I was working on Kay Bailey's race for governor against Rick Perry, there were a ton of people, a ton of really influential business people in Texas that gave to both campaigns too. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

I mean that's called hedging your bet.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

It's called hedging your bet. And that's when I go back to, you know, Sheriff, I support you.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Sheriff, I support you.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Correct, exactly. And a lot of times, you know, depending on what your business affiliation is, it's a smart move.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

For sure. Right. I mean, you Yeah. I mean, it's it's it seems like it shouldn't be that way, but we know it is.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

It's correct.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

Now I just want to know what the threshold is so I can donate just below on both so when it gets reported, nobody knows where I am. Right?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

There's a threshold somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Aaron Ross Powell Well, it depends on the race and it depends on the state about how much money you can give to a candidate. And um, you know, judges are different than someone running for governor. Texas, we have no limits, which when I was, you know, running so fun. Whenever I was where you were Kabila Hutchison running against Rick Perry, I'd get to call and ask for a$50,000 check, a hundred thousand dollar check, and you'd be really shocked at how easy it was to turn some of that money over. And it was it made it really fun.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

But I mean, hasn't the money and politics just continually escalated to where when you started versus how it is now, it's so much easier to give a lot of money?

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yes. Well, yeah. Especially when we're talking about federal races. Federal races, there's where the restrictions are. So Senate races, president, um, they have, you know, limits on what you can give, but then they came in and made these super PACs. Right. And so that's the loophole there. And a lot of the super PACs, they have, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Citizens United case. Yeah. Is that it?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Right? When they said a corporation is like a person.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

And then the whole thing is now just a big I mean, it's a billion dollar race every time a president runs.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Yeah, it's huge. And it it costs that much. And I wish it didn't. And then even some of these local races, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

Who are the winners? The advertisers?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Right?

SPEAKER_02 15:25

I mean, the TV stations. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Right? Yeah. There's a lot of people making a lot of money. Um, but you know, some if we go back to like local politics, you go back to the mayor race where we have three people running, you know, how I feel about the cost of that campaign, you know, I have feelings about it because I don't know that we want, you know, our local campaigns costing, you know, in excess of$200,000. Not that this one will, but I mean people it'll get there.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

People would never want to run. Right. I mean, they say there's no way I can raise that much money.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Or if you, you know, have a candidate that's extremely personally wealthy. I mean, he's already got the or he or she already has the, you know, they've got the bag.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

I've got my eye on the mayor's job.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

You do?

SPEAKER_02 16:09

No, I don't.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

That would be fun.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

No, I'm just kidding. No, no. I don't I don't have the political demeanor.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

You know, like I mean, uh you see these guys, and I don't know how they do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

I mean, they get attacked, especially the higher up you get, you know, and uh and they're always smiling and glad-handing, and you know, it's like, ah, man, that'd be tough to do that all the time.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

But you saw it. That's what they had to do.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

That's what they had to do. And it it was exha it's exhausting, and it's a strain not only on them, it's a strain on their families. I mean, it's you've got to have a whole family participation in this, really.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

I mean, when we had Congressman Moran on, I mean, he talked about it, how much he's gone, how hard it is. You know, some people, no matter what you do, they somehow hate you.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Right. I mean, they hate you. They don't just dislike or disapprove your position. They hate your gut. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

And you should probably make every decision knowing that 50% of people are going to be mad at you.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Right. I mean, I think that's probably a good mindset. Um, and I guess you've adopted that yourself uh in the fundraising, you know, personality that you developed and being able to just look at people and say, hey, uh can you give me some money?

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Right? I mean Yeah, you're gonna get a yes or no, but I mean, you remind me of a Baptist preacher. I don't think anybody can uh ask. Well I'm saying, you know, I think uh the preachers have, you know, developed a you know a skill set about asking for money, right? Right. Uh now, albeit for a good cause, you know, and whatever. But um it is hard to ask people for money.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

It's a it's a skill set, and a lot of people don't like the rejection. But if you look at the rejection as opportunity and a challenge, I mean that's kind of how I do it. It no means not now, maybe later. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

So um it's No, I mean, I'm gonna tell you something with me. Hey, Bonnie, no means no.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

I bet I could turn you. I'm really good at peer pressure.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Somehow I feel like, you know, this isn't the end of uh of my the conversation that that we're gonna have. But um I mean uh It's never the end. I mean let's cancel the show here now and take this down. But no, I mean really I bet executive directors and CEOs in Tyler, you know, there's a I think there's a seven-year lifespan or something like that before charities seem to change. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Well, I think you've I think really if we're adapting to the climate, you need to change every five to seven years.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

I mean, with the person leading the organization. Does that mean you're on the way out?

SPEAKER_01 18:40

No. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Except for you because of your skill set.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Well, I mean, I've came in and I've made a lot of changes in the organization, you know, and that that goes back to, you know, some of the employees were happy about it, some weren't.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

But that's always the case.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

It's always the case. You can't please everybody, but everything's always changing.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Everything.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Uh the way you ask for money's gotta change. The way you operate's gotta change. We've got uh, you know, we're working with a prolific, non-curable disease in a community that's growing and aging. We we've gotta be able to accommodate growth. So um, you know, that's one of the challenges of leading anything is you're gonna make changes and you're gonna make people mad and you just have to keep going forward.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

What about, you know, your position? I mean, I know you're the CEO and it's called you referred to it, we call it the Alliance. Yeah. And it's Alzheimer's Alliance of Smith County. Correct. Um just to jump back on the history, as I researched, it was like uh supposedly eight caregivers in 1982 came together.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

And I'm assuming that they all were brought together by maybe the disease and a family member. Correct. Um You know, I have a little experience and and and so do all my childhood friends. Um I think the youngest person who ever died was Marilyn Shepherd from Alzheimer's. Okay. And she I think she was 41 years of age, and she had a son that was my age. And because I saw that Joe Shepherd was uh a board member emeritus.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

And I wondered if that was the connection.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yes, yes. Most of our board members, I mean everyone has a connection to this disease.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Right. But when I saw him, all I could think about was Marilyn Shepherd passing away in her early 40s from Alzheimer's, and everybody's like, what is Alzheimer's? Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yes. And it was still so when the support group started for the Alliance back in the 80s, it was still pretty taboo. Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

I mean, this is 82.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Right. And this is, you know, a lot of people didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to admit to having it.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

You know, it we It could be embarrassing if other people didn't understand what it was.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Correct. And it was really that was still a time when I think Alzheimer's and dementia was tied to like senility. Like you were senile. You're old and senile.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

Can't find his car keys. Right. Right. I mean, right.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

And then, you know, you have all these great people and it if literally affects anyone. So you'll have someone who had a brilliant career as a doctor all of a sudden, you know, not knowing who he is.

SPEAKER_02 21:00

You know, it it is a There's people in Tyler that I know that fit the description you just said. Right. Yes. Of course. And so it it's kind of a random striker. Um, right? I mean, it's not I mean it's hereditary, some kind of protein, maybe some environmental factors or something else that we hadn't got our hands on.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Right. So so there's a um I'm gonna try to explain this as simply as I can, maybe uh definitely oversimplifying it. Um but right, we don't there are so many factors that contribute to the disease. There, like you said, there are two proteins. Um there's amyloid and tau. Um the amyloid protein, if we're looking at a brain cell, the amyloid protein will sit on the brain cell.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Create a plaque?

SPEAKER_01 21:47

It creates a plaque. And this is normal. Everybody has plaque buildup in their brain. So you may have just as much as someone with Alzheimer's right now, but how it affects your brain, that's really kind of the question here.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Diet, exercise, and not smoking?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Diet, exercise, not smoking, sleep, continued learning, and no social is isolation.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

And that that helps keep people as good as they could be.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

As good as they could be. So, you know, a fat um the main factor with the disease is age, right? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Unless it strikes somebody who's 41.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Well that would be early onset Alzheimer's. And that's probably the cruelest and it goes really fast.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

And it's rare, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:31

It's it's pretty it's pretty rare. But I will say we have several clients in their their 40s. So it's not it's rare but not uncommon. Or um maybe it's uncommon but not rare. So anyways the towel protein and the amyloid protein they create create these plaque.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

These are natural proteins that we all have inside of us.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Correct. So the amyloid's going to sit on top of your brain cell and it can really be the instigator of the disease. And it can instigate it can actually instigate the growth and formation of the tau protein which is going to interlock within your brain cells. The towel is going to prohibit your, you know, brain one brain cell from shooting to the next. Because you know that's all it is is like connections in your brain.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Like synapse. Yeah the synapse and and something like what about uh is it an autoimmune response like when the body thinks that there's an invader and it attacks itself?

SPEAKER_01 23:27

So yeah similar yes and it's the it's inflammation basically inflammation is what that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

That's in the body correct increasing blood nutrients in the same area is why you have red skin where it's inflammation and hotter.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Right, correct so it's the inflammation in these in the proteins that create the plaque that's in your brain and the towel um it actually will you know prohibit the you know one synapse from speaking to the other.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

So and eventually that multiplies? Yes and kind of like cancer mutates.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yes and it'll get more ingrained so then you know different synapses aren't firing correctly or they're picking up incorrectly that's why you know a lot of people who have like early onset Alzheimer's they'll forget how to swallow they'll starve to death basically essentially because their body has forgotten these functions. So it's not just a memory issue.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

I mean isn't that wild? It's wild. To think that you would have to remember to breathe or to remember to swallow.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Aaron Ross Powell But that's what your brain is essentially remembering to swallow and breathe it just is happening so fast we're not picking up that our brain is remembering to do that.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Aaron Ross Powell is that what ultimately leads to the demise of people with Alzheimer's is that they they're not able to you know breathe or remember to breathe or eat or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Aaron Ross Powell that's a factor other illness can be a factor um you know another disease simultaneously but then we also you know if you have like diabetes and other things that are going to be cancer or you know um but another factor is you know when you have dementia and Alzheimer's like the risk of falling self-injury um car accidents wandering away wandering away that all is increased.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yeah it's a depression it's tough it's got to be tough for people that uh have it and and and people that care for them, you know, day to day right it is and there there's actually been research and a lot of what we do at the Alliance is for caregiver assistance and really helping support the caregiver because they're kind of forgotten but like they're in the trenches there.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

And um there's been research done on caregiver burden. So if you take all these cohorts of caregivers, um people caring for children, people caring for sick children, people caring for people with cancer, all these things, they've found that the most intense caregiver burden emotionally and physical on your emotional, mental and physical health is Alzheimer's and dementia. It's a round the clock job.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

And you know and it's it's it's different from cancer in that there's not the hope right now that maybe a chemotherapy or radiation might somehow make it better.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Right? I mean there's not that available today.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Aaron Ross Powell There's trial drugs and there are um drugs, early intervention drugs. All of these I want you know you know want to say um are based on early intervention. So making sure that you do memory screenings at a certain age and making sure that if it runs, if Alzheimer's runs in your family you get screened early on because the trials and and the good trials you need to have that early diagnosis. And then for the drugs that are you know intervening they're not really clearing up the plaque that I'm talking about or preventing the holding it at bay. Yes. It's just so the interventions for the disease are basically to improve your quality of life and your longevity.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

And it just kind of draws it out where you don't demise as quickly? Correct. Now the the numbers uh for Smith County I looked at something I don't know if these are right you probably know better. 4,500 in Smith County with Alzheimer's in 2025. Sounds right yeah 490,000 with Alzheimer's in Texas 2025. Yeah um I watched a program uh you know preparing for this interview uh you know to try to get an idea of what people are saying nationally about facts figures in the future and uh they said five million people in the United States right now. I don't know if that I'm sure you have access to probably the most up to date information but the extrapolation was kind of scary. It was like it might be 50 million in 2050.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Correct correct and um with those figures I just want to plug in the the the strain the financial strain it's one of the most expensive diseases per person per year.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

I'm going there that's why I'm headed there next you know one of the things the guy said like not only is this disease emotionally cruel it's financially cruel. Correct okay because you know this brings up issues with elder law your home medicare Medicaid uh memory care nursing home I mean there's all these your kids spending their money right there's all this stuff coming into play right um and Medicare this guy said that I watched a program he said one and five Medicare dollars are spent for Alzheimer's or related to Alzheimer's oh yeah I think in uh 2023 it was a$320 billion expense to our country.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

It's projected to reach close to a trillion by 2050.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

That's what I was about to say. That's what he said.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

It's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

One in three dollars by then one trillion dollars twenty fifty that is unsustainable as far I mean that's the military budget. Right. Right. So you you know we're sitting here wondering w how w where's this going? Um and that's the scariest part is because to me I don't know unless they come up with something quick. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Well and I think even in the time that I've been at the Alliance, I've seen the research it's skewed from cure to now we're seeing more research in terms of prevention. And what in my environmental factors are, you know, we see brain injury trauma. They're seeing you know higher rates of mention Alzheimer's in people who've experienced traumatic brain injury and um emotional trauma even. And so obviously that's prolific where you know think about how many people you know are suffering from some kind of trauma.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

Yeah I mean I have firsthand uh experience with that actually uh my wife's mother fell uh and had a frontal lobe traumatic brain injury in 2015. And uh she is in a memory care home today and she's only 72. Right. And um she knows things but you know there's there's all these other things, you know sometimes hallucinations, sometimes you know wandering, right? I mean there's just and and so I've seen it firsthand and uh the impact on on the family members, you know, it's it's it I mean it's it's hard to look at.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

It is it is um it is and I think that's you know one of the things that we do that's so important is just provide some hope and some relief. And I think that you know the from what I've seen is the people who kind of fare the best are people who early on accept it and figure out how can I have the best life possible you know going through this.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

This is the person who has it or this is the spouse or caregiver or both.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

I think it's I think it's you know there are still a lot of people who don't want to get a diagnosis.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

There are a lot of people Yeah like don't tell me if I'm dying.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

Right I mean I don't want to know the day. Would you want to know the day and the hour that you died is the question. And you say some people say yes some people say no. Exactly I don't know I mean that's a tough one isn't it? Maybe I mean I might be turning it loose from him.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

But if you found out you were going to die two years from now you would turn it loose right you'd tomorrow would be a lot different.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

I'm living on borrowed time now I'm turning it loose now. We're all on borrowed time I mean I'm l I'm turning it loose. I'm leaving here and turning it loose man. You know the people that come to the Alzheimer's Alliance I would assume it would be in a category of maybe three different groups like people that are concerned that maybe something is happening. Correct with a spouse or a a loved one right? Yes. And then people that know they're experiencing you know Alzheimer's type symptoms. Right. Uh and then these are just me coming up and then someone who's seeing a progression that's kind of fast and they're scared about it.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Right. Yes. I would say you're exactly right. We also have we do do memory screening so we have people um who just want to be proactive and are healthy and they come we get a lot of referrals from physicians and luckily so people For a screening for for a screening or just you know they're seeing that this person has dementia. You know it's really hard to get an actual dementia in Alzheimer's diagnosis. And there are a lot of people you know in some of these Why do you think that is is that because of insurance companies coding Medicare payments why do you think that is um in our community specifically I think that we're seeing um well in general we're seeing a lot of people not going into the geriatric side of medicine um because there's no money in it. Right and well and neuropsychology there's you know nobody's wanting to do that neuropsychiatry um neurology even and I've got to give a lot of props to UT Tyler and the medical school because they are really really um focusing a lot on neurology and Alzheimer's and dementia we've got an Alzheimer's and dementia center um tied to the medical school optimization they're anticipating what's coming yes and let's you know if you want our medical school this is just me talking yeah no if we if we want our medical school to really get on the map if we're like the premier school for you know neurology or Alzheimer's and dementia like it's gonna it's gonna do something.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

I mean so it reminds me of the chest hospital during the turb you know the asbestos and tuberculosis out on 271, right? It was a famous chest x-ray, chest problem. I don't know if you know this but yeah and so all that all that research out there at uh out on 271 was all related to you know chest and pulmonary problems.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:41

So maybe we'll get put on the map for this.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

I don't know that we want to be no but we I mean if we can get you know research if we that's a good thing to get on the map. And there was just a bill passed that's in Texas that's going to supply a lot of uh funding for research for Alzheimer's and dementia, people are starting to see their writing on the wall on where this is going and where this is headed.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Aaron Ross Powell Right. I mean it's not been given a lot of federal funding relative to uh cardiovascular disease, COVID problems, right? I mean it's it's kind of over there like it's not a real thing when it's a huge thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Aaron Ross Powell Right. And I think even you know on a micro scale uh you know raising money for the Alliance for example a lot of people see this as an old person's disease. Why do I give my money? They're gonna die anyways this is not just a disease that affects old people. I mean it affects the caregivers exponentially it affects families like we everyone in this room can say we've been touched by the disease in some way.

SPEAKER_02 34:40

And really counseling and planning are the primary things really the only things that we can give people right now. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Support and I think um we give we have a program at the Alliance it's our day club program and it's really um people who are still pretty well functioning uh with dimension Alzheimer's they come for four hours and we do music therapy, physical therapy, activities, games, we bring in live music, art, um, and it's a time to get those people doing something and being you know out of the house and it also gives their caregivers a respite time. Right. And we it's we offer we don't turn anyone away we have a sliding scale for income but the most you'll ever pay for four hours with us is$50. And it's a great way for those caretakers I mean some of those caretakers that's the only time they can go to the doctor or they can go to the grocery store or they come to one of our support groups or they come to our counselor and get support that way. So um and it's a really unique thing that we're doing. I've had people from all over the country kind of call me at different times um in my tenure asking you know about like what we do and how we do it and the model and if we're ever going to franchise out.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

So 'cause it's called what the day club?

SPEAKER_01 35:58

It's the day club. And um a lot of people in there, this is this is really great and sweet um you know you would probably be kind of hesitant to maybe go and do that. But a lot of people in there think they're the volunteer. So we you They think they're helping. Yes they think they're helping. They think that their peers that are in there are their volunteer mission. And so it gives them a sense of purpose and it's really it's awesome. And we have people who've been volunteering in day club as actual volunteers for 15, 20 years.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

That don't have Alzheimer's Yeah they just love the program.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

They see the impact it has on families and they keep coming back. It's just very rewarding. But we'll have someone you know maybe someone that was really involved in the junior league and now she's got Alzheimer's well all of a sudden she thinks day club is part of her junior league volunteer work. And so she's you know that she's happy she's happy and she's there and she's doing something and her spouse is you know getting relieved getting some relief and relieved that she's a place that she's happy.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

Right. If it's a she, if it's a he, whoever exactly um yeah I've I've I've read and that people with Alzheimer's they like to stay busy or they like activities for some reason. Is that your experience?

SPEAKER_01 37:19

I think it just it really depends on the individual and it's really interesting kind of what you see because in some people their personality seems very much the same and some people it's a pretty dramatic shift which can be hard for loved ones obviously anger anger paranoia paranoia um defensive like hey you know who is that why are you talking to him you're cheating on me right a lot of people and I've heard that and I had a friend close friend that his dad ended up that way and he had to go to a uh because he was getting uh you know a little physical and he was so paranoid.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

Oh yeah yeah but when you talk to him it seemed like he was normal until he asked me for the fifth time in the in three minutes if I was going to stay for dinner.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

Right.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Right? I mean isn't that a kind of a telltale signal yeah it's your short term.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

So it's mostly your short term memory that's really affected. And so um there are people that think they're in their 20s. A lot of people go wandering um from their home that they may have lived in for 30 years, but they're looking for their childhood home. They don't recognize that as home in their mind they're trying to find their childhood home and they're like take me home no this isn't my home or this isn't my wife.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

Right. So that's who who are you? Right. Right I mean that happened in in in our case where uh my mother-in-law would say to her husband you know um you know who are you? Right. Who is this man in my house? Right. I mean that kind of and like obviously that's you know that's hard on him and everybody else but you know I've got an Alzheimer story that's that's along the wandering. When I went to UT and this is a long time ago right I graduated in 1989. No way. Huh?

SPEAKER_01 39:06

No way.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Yeah no idea I'm driving back and I'm outside of Waco and I see an old man. I'm telling gray headed clearly he was an old okay like he had to be 70 something at least he's walking on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I mean there's no town there's no nothing and I looked up I looked at him and I pulled over and I I go hey man and he was talking to me totally normal. I was like hey what are you doing out here? He goes I ran out of gas and uh you know of course he drove his car till he ran out of gas. Right. So I I I loaded him up and just drove into Waco and figured, you know, I could see a cop somewhere and tell him well sure enough they said hey we've been looking for this guy for three days. Right, right. And I was like you know but I just had a feeling by the way he was you know but Yeah it's scary.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

And uh one of the things we do is we have a project lifesaver bracelet and we work with Smith County Sheriff Department and Tyler Police Department. And so it's different than like air tagging someone because this is a radio frequency. So it can get wet, it can go through water um it doesn't lose a signal and if I could put one on everybody in the county that has Alzheimer's or dementia I would because there have been people who instead of having the gray alerts you know of a missing elder people have been recovered within 30 minutes. So it saves a lot of strain on law enforcement that would have been a good thing for that man. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 40:27

Because I have read 70% of Alzheimer's patients will wander correct. And I've seen that um that ankle bracelet or wrist bracelet I think you can put it either place.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

You can put it either place.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Yes it is and it you know you're right it you can shower in it you can do all these things in it and uh if somebody wanders off I guess and and this is in concert with the police department?

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Mm-hmm Tyler Police Department um they have a transmitter that'll help find them and so does the Smith County Sheriff's Department and we also do first responder and law enforcement training. You know there's a big gap and pe people don't know how to talk to people with Alzheimer's dementia.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

I've read that as well.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

They get aggravated when they need to de-escalate right yes and they get really and think about it if you don't know where you are if you think you're back in 1968 and somebody comes up to you and you're scared. So there's a way of talking to people and we try to educate the community on that we have an education program too that's really interesting for financial institutions because the amount of people taking advantage of people with Alzheimer's or dementia is huge. So we try to teach scams. Scams but even banking institutions even you know in-home caregivers even family trying to rob these people is crgic.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Right. I mean that's that's that's a low that's the problem that's a low blow there on any on any scale but until they're intercepted by a family member I guess they could be taken advantage of along the way.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Correct because it goes back to you know an Alzheimer's dementia diagnosis is extremely hard to get there's a backlog on getting that testing done because we don't have enough people doing the testing we don't have enough people admitting they need the testing but it's you know you know like getting a power of attorney if you don't have anyone overseeing your finances you're a consenting adult if you don't have an official Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis and someone robs you for$30,000, which we've seen um and you wrote the check and you signed it, you don't have a lot of leg to stand up currently in our you know judicial system.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

So Alzheimer's as I understand it is under the dementia umbrella and it represents 60 to 70% of dementia.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

And how with with that being the case, how does one get diagnosed with dementia separate and apart from Alzheimer's?

SPEAKER_01 42:54

Well a lot of it is figuring out kind of a process of elimination there is a spinal tap. There's some genetic testing now that you can do for Alzheimer's and different dementias there's different kind of written tests. It just depends on kind of the symptoms that you're showing. There's over a hundred dementias um Alzheimer's is the name brand one um does it s set is it set apart by certain symptoms that dementia does not have Alzheimer's yes no there most dementias will have symptoms that Alzheimer's has. There are different dementias like you can get a dementia you can get uh a reversible dementia would be like a UTI. I don't know if you've ever heard of people getting urinary tract infections and having dementia Dementia. Yeah. They'll have dementia-like symptoms until the just caused by the infection?

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Caused by the infection um head injury stroke some of those some of those have reversible dementia right I've I've known people in you know in personal injuries aspects have been injured and over 18 months have gotten better.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

Improved.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Bruce Willis, he has a dementia that prevents him from being able to communicate. Um it's not it's a different dementia. Um Robin Williams, the actor, had something. He had Lewy body dementia. Um that probably obviously he killed himself.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

He did.

SPEAKER_01 44:17

There's a great chance that the dementia which causes paranoia and extreme depression um and suicidal ideation caused him to kill himself.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

Alzheimer's the word. I'm assuming that's some doctor who discovered this.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 44:33

Um and so I guess my question would be separate and apart from these other dimensions you just mentioned, what did Dr. Alzheimer's discover that they gave him the name of the disease?

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Aaron Ross Powell That would be the plaque. Um the proteins. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

So he must have been like some kind of molecular biologist or something, right? Yeah. He's looking at brain and blood and and saying, hey, this person's got this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Right. And I mean, think before that, again, we thought they were either crazy or senile.

SPEAKER_02 45:03

Um What about CTE in in the football world where people have these same type of symptoms? You know, what's going on physically there that is comparable to Alzheimer's?

SPEAKER_01 45:14

Aaron Ross Powell Well, I mean, the impact that it has on your brain, the trauma to your brain, um, goes back to, you know, not being able to connect the synapses correctly or some's firing off and some not, you know, taking up the firing of the other one. So it it's similar in that it just affects the transmission of the communication in your brain. Um but it's yeah, and back to head injuries, CTE, I bet we're gonna see a lot of, you know, former athletes football, yeah, hockey, whatever. Whatever, whatever. Any traumatic rodeo and yeah. So um it's it's gonna be it really interesting. There's actually, I don't know while you're researching, did you hear about the there's a family basically in the mountains of Columbia, um, Central America, and basically the whole family has this genetic mutation that continues to get passed down. And it's it's a research gold mine for Alzheimer's because it's Alzheimer's and it's early onset. So they're starting, so they're taking these people, um, they're related, and they're seeing that they're living to 44, 49 years old. So they're taking brain scans early on, and they're seeing the plaque buildup starting around the age of 28. Um, and so this cohort, and there's like, you know, some cultural differences that probably make it challenging. Um, and of course, we don't want to exploit these people in the research department, but um they're going to be very influential to see like what's the cause, you know, what's the cause? How can we stave this off? We know these people are going to get it. We know there's a plaque buildup at 28. They're not exhibiting signs of dementia, but they have the buildup in their brain. Um, can we remove this plaque?

SPEAKER_02 47:01

Can we can I mean it it'd kind of be like a brain surgery, I guess if you were going to surgically try to remove something.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 47:10

They haven't, I don't, to my knowledge, and I don't know everything, obviously, but I don't think I mean I brought you here because I thought you did.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

I mean, I know most everything, but you mentioned something that's that's I'm sure everybody's interested in. You mentioned Colombia, which is another country.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Do other countries, China, Russia, India, do countries document and report these cases like the United States? And do we know is it happening worldwide?

SPEAKER_01 47:38

It's happening worldwide. I will say, depending on the culture, you know, and and we even see that in you know different cultures that are in America, the stigmatism of anything kind of emotional or mental health related, which I think some people, you know, see some of the symptoms in their loved ones, it's dementia, and they could think it was a mental illness. And so they're gonna be hesitant to get help or report it.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

So um because schizophrenia.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

And things like that that used to be kind of like you said, had a huge stigma, like this person's you know, my crazy aunt in the basement used to be a a reference, right? Right. Um and then some of the signs of Alzheimer's with hallucinations and stuff, it kind of mimics those same kind of things.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Right. And you see, I'm sure and I've heard of people, you know, being picked up and taken to a mental health facility when really they had dementia. Um people being arrested, people being misunderstood. I mean, it's happening all the time.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Yeah. I mean, I could see how I wonder if Alzheimer's uh existed uh, you know, much further back than we realize, and that we just called it something else and we just thought people's behavior was criminal or un or or or something like that. Right.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

Yeah, absolutely. And I think this group of people in Columbia could probably prove that. I mean, that genetically, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:58

Like how many generations back, you know, right.

SPEAKER_01 49:00

I mean that and that's they all know. Um I'm sure now they know it's Alzheimer's. You should read about it. It's really interesting. But um, you know, it's they know that their longevity is affected. They their life expectancy is 49. They they take care of these people really well because they all are expecting that their loved ones are going to show these signs. And it's just a normal part of life in that community. Um But it's really, it's really interesting and um there's is a lot of research being done there. Um, and I think that if we could figure out, okay, take the 28-year-old's brain that has the plaque on it, how do we get the plaque off? Or how do we keep the plaque from spreading spreading, or how do we keep it, you know, in the amyloid stage and not the towel stage? And how do we keep the ammo, you know, there's just a lot of questions there. And I think that's why we'll continue to see the research spreading to prevention um instead of cure. I think if we can figure out how to slow it down if you have the genetic predisposition to have the disease, um, which many of us do, um, how do we slow it down? How do we keep it from going to Alzheimer's? Um and I think that's where we're headed with research. But right now they're saying diet, exercise, the things that you mentioned earlier.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

Those just help. What about things like, you know, luminosity and keeping your mind, you know, crossword puzzles, just something as opposed to a person who gets older who's maybe retired and they're not doing anything with their mind.

SPEAKER_01 50:33

Right. Well, and I would say go further than crossword puzzles. They say learning a new skill. So learning a learning a complicated game, learning how to play bridge.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

I always wanted to play guitar. There you go. But I can't play anything but the air drums.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

I say that's what I tell people. I'm like, oh, if it runs in your family's learn guitar or learn a language. Exactly. So an acquisition of something new helps the b brain elasticity more than you know, a crossword puzzle. And I think the stimulation, and that's I think you know, that goes back to people who are depressed or lonely or isolated, you know, the disease can have a faster impact because you know you're not using your communication and you're not learning, you know, you're not learning from other people. Um, so keeping you know your brain receptive to learning, I think is huge. And learn something new. Everybody who learns something new.

SPEAKER_02 51:26

Well, we've talked about, you know, the challenges, but you know, the living arrangements of a person with Alzheimer's seem to s you know span across, you know, initially living alone, right? I mean, do you all have clients that drive themselves up to Alzheimer's Alliance and they have Alzheimer's or believe they do, but they come up there and they participate in the the daycare or, you know, and do all that?

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Um I would say by the time they're in day club, I really hope they're not driving. We do a lot of counseling and support on taking cars away from people. Just go ahead and uh the keys. Ta no, take the battery out. You know, have it towed and say it's been stolen. There are lots of you know, great things.

SPEAKER_02 52:06

Like where's my car? Where's my car? Is a common question.

SPEAKER_01 52:10

Um, but I'm still always right. I uh I still am always surprised. My office is kind of up front of the building, the people like driving in the parking lot, like My Dad.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Oh my God. My dad, you know, I don't know what he had, and and it could have been just dementia from having a stroke, you know, because but uh I mean, he'd get in the truck, and I mean, my mom couldn't stop him. And uh, you know, he'd pull up to the office out there, I'd be just like, dad, you can't be driving. But you know, it's like it's like that last bit of independence they do not want to get rid of.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

It is. And I mean it's And you know how stubborn people can be. There's a lot of people who I can imagine it's very hard. That's why we're like, tow the car, tell them it got stolen, take the battery out, deflate the tires, whatever it takes. Because it's it it it honestly scares me.

SPEAKER_02 53:04

But I mean I guess the danger in them driving would be they just didn't wouldn't know where they were going.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

They I think people get lost a lot. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 53:13

But I mean they can still drive.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

They can still drive. I mean, and you have muscle memory and it's not a physical thing.

SPEAKER_02 53:18

Yeah, but I mean Right, but I mean, you know, who knows where they end up, right?

SPEAKER_01 53:22

Right. We don't want them to get hurt twice.

SPEAKER_02 53:24

Yes. Well, uh I know. I mean, it's I mean, you've heard so much about the keys of the car when you hear about Alzheimer's. Yeah. That that's the big hurdle. Right. And then, you know, the living arrangements is interesting because, you know, there's a lot of financial implications to that, right? You c you bring your parent into your home, potentially.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 53:47

Do y'all have a lot of people that choose that option?

SPEAKER_01 53:50

We do. We have a lot of people, I mean, memory care facilities, um, there's some really great ones, but I think that's a hard decision for a lot of people to make. So, yes, there are a lot of round-the-clock caregivers at home. Um, I think we as a society are not like in our socioeconomic stance, we're not really set up for taking care of our elders at home. You know, how does a single mom with kids take care of her mom with dementia, which has to work? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:16

Right. I mean, if they were older like me, you know, I mean, I could, you know, have my mom live with me if she needed to, or you know, but I know that's not a reality for everybody. Um but y like you say, I mean, the cruel part goes back to now you are a parent to your parent.

SPEAKER_00 54:34

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 54:35

Right. I mean, and I mean, but in a way, you know, we kind of feel obligated, I would, yeah, to help as much or do as much as I can. I'm sure people feel guilty when they have to make a decision on memory care or nursing home or otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

I think especially spouses. I think there are a lot of spouses that make the pact that I'll keep you at home forever. Right. Um, you know, or spouses that don't want to be with without their loved one, obviously. Um, but I there's also a lot of freedom. Uh we've seen a lot of people kind of get a second wind in their own life when they do make that decision. Um so it but it's hard. It's definitely hard. And then there's a financial aspect to it.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Um which I'm gonna ask you about that in a minute, okay? But I want to know kind of, you know, you you're you're deep in this. I mean, you see this, you know, five days a week, if not more. Uh and you mentioned guilt. And I can only imagine it. I mean, I try to put myself in people's shoes sometimes whenever, you know, say, well, you know, what would I do or how would I feel? Um, you know what do you think the people that have dementia feel? I mean, do you get a sense, you know, of what they know is happening? You know, like they know they're getting worse. They know that they're talking about going somewhere else to live. I mean, do they know those things?

SPEAKER_01 55:57

I think in the beginning, yes. Um, but I think, you know, some people get to a place in the disease where they don't really have a concept of what's going on. Um, but like when you're early, if you're diagnosed early and you see, you know, what's coming down the road, I think that would be remarkably scary. But I think the people that tend to fare better, again, like have an acceptance and have a proactive, you know, how can I make this the most comfortable for myself? How can I make it the most comfortable for my loved one that's going to care for me? Um, coming up with a plan. And we help we help do that at the Alliance. We kind of help create a roadmap for if you've just gotten a diagnosis, you know, kind of what to expect and you know, what affairs you need to get in order. And um and I think people being proactive in their action, I mean, just picking up the phone and calling and talking to someone for a few minutes at at the Alliance, even it's just like telling them, you know, your concerns and getting some answers on that. I think just as a remarkable thing for your emotional well-being.

SPEAKER_02 57:04

Aaron Ross Powell And that's why y'all are there, right? I mean, y'all are there uh when people start to find out that this is going to be some part of their life that y'all are a place that that they can call and talk to people who know a lot more about it, right? Right. And know what's available. Um I'm sure people probably ask all the time, like, hey, is there any treatment?

SPEAKER_01 57:23

Aaron Powell Right. They do. Um and the, you know, yes is the the short answer. The long answer on that is it's dependent upon a lot of variables. Um and it depends on your symptoms and your medical history. So um it but there's not a cure.

SPEAKER_02 57:41

Aaron Ross Powell You have mentioned the people in uh Columbia. So I'm assuming there's a a hereditary aspect to some of this. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 57:51

Yes. Genetics plays a huge role in this, um, but it's not the only determining factor. So it may not run in your family and you get it. It may run in your family and you do get it. So you can have a brother and a sister and maybe the brother gets it and the sister doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 58:06

That's what I was about to say. What if it does run in your family? Does that mean you're going to get it? No. Okay. So I mean, people don't have to be scared to death if their mom had Alzheimer's, right?

SPEAKER_01 58:16

Correct, correct. But being said that being said, if your mom had it, I would be proactive and getting your memory screenings and doing all the things that were, you know, thinking help, you know, prevent the disease going quickly. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 58:29

When you said your mom, did you mean that in any way related to being the birth mother of that child, or did you just choose the word mom versus dad having it? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 58:39

Cho chose the just chose the word. Yeah, dad or mom. Mom or dad.

SPEAKER_02 58:43

I don't know if it was if your mom had it, you know, then that means you know something else is you got a higher incident rate. No. Okay. No. Medicare, you know, uh that's one of the first things people start talking about, or at least from what I've seen in my own life, is like what will the government pay for relative to when they've gotten to where they're hard to keep at home?

SPEAKER_01 59:09

Right. Uh there are a lot of facilities that take Medicare.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

Um Are they memory care facilities?

SPEAKER_01 59:15

Yes. There are memory care facilities that take Medicare. Um there are some that don't, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

Is there a hoop to get in those places? Like you have to have a diagnosis medical or otherwise or something?

SPEAKER_01 59:26

Yes. And there's also going to be a wait list, most likely. That's a real thing. Obviously, there's, you know, continual turnover, but there are, you know, generally speaking, probably less memory care beds than there are than there's a need, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 59:44

Then nursing home beds?

SPEAKER_01 59:45

Um, yes. There there are facilities that are nursing homes and memory care.

SPEAKER_02 59:50

Combined.

SPEAKER_01 59:51

Yeah. Um and then there are facilities that are just memory care.

SPEAKER_02 59:55

Assisted living type.

SPEAKER_01 59:56

Assisted. There's a, you know, some are assisted living, nursing, and memory. Um it just there's all kinds. And there are people who can start an assisted living and you kind of know that maybe they're going to eventually end up in the memory care.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:11

Um but memory care just sounds better to me than a nursing home.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:15

Aaron Ross Powell Than a nursing home.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:17

A nursing home, you know, conjures up images, you know, that's so scary. For me, just thinking of, I mean, I've m uh visited nursing homes in the old days and you thought, uh, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:28

Well, your your view of a nursing home is probably someone laying in a bed in a room, right? Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

Like, I mean, you know, waiting, punching a button and waiting for somebody to come, you know, 30 minutes later.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:38

That would be more of like skilled nursing and memory care if you go into a memory care facility. Um, you'll see people walking around and doing activities and their rooms looking more like an apartment. But then you'll also see walking around the memory care will be like nursing aids like to help and assist and make sure people are taking their medicine and doing all the things. So it's not um what the memory care facility is definitely not what you're thinking.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:03

Yeah, no, I mean I know that. I'm just saying, you know, I mean, I just think the nursing home uh but you know, I guess there's not enough room for all of society that has Alzheimer's to go to a memory care.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:19

Correct. That would that would be wild.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:21

I mean, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:22

I mean, some people have to end up in a nursing home when their kids can't take care of them, can't afford them, and the government will will pay. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

Well, yeah, and if they have another existing condition or um they need more skilled nursing, or we're going back to um if you have such advanced Alzheimer's where you can't feed yourself, where you can't you're, you know, you're gonna be in a nursing home.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:46

Um how do you apply? Do you apply, you know, to a memory care, do you apply to a nursing home? If somebody's listened to this and they're and they're worried about their their parent and they know they're not gonna be live living alone or with them, you know, what what step would they would you take first, the best option for your parent if you could afford it, if you could have it, what would you do first?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

Aaron Powell I mean, I would tour the facilities and see what I'm most comfortable with. And um each facility kind of has their, you know, they have some of the same guidelines and then there are sp facility specific guidelines on, you know, who they'll take and um what they're looking for, what they're not looking for, um if they can handle someone if they're aggressive. If they're aggressive. There are some that will not take aggressive. There are some that will not take if you've been kicked out of another one for being aggressive. So it can be kind of tricky there. Right. Um so if you've got like a really strong, um, healthy, uh healthy otherwise man um who's known for aggression, you know, you may have trouble staying.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:51

He'd be hard to handle.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

And um and some of them are. Some of them are very combative. Some of them, again, think they're 20 years old and get uh, you know, bursts of adrenaline, and it can be it can be a task.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:05

I mean, I saw it firsthand when my dad was uh in a facility for a little while and we brought him home, but uh it's difficult to care for people. I I didn't realize, you know, watching the nurses in the hospital on people that are halfway incapacitated. Correct. Right. I mean, that can't do for themselves. Right. I mean, I was like, you know, man, that looks hard. Who would ever want to do that? These are special people.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:30

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

I was like, php.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:32

It is it takes a really special person and there's a lot of turnover, there's a lot of um shortage.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:38

How stressful would that be?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:40

It would be awful. Well, and you know, if you're making$20 an hour as a nursing assistant taking care of someone who's combative, I mean, can you imagine? And cleaning up after a lot of people. I mean, that it's a very thankful, thankless job.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

That is is tough. Okay, so some of them, memory care, don't take any Medicare, right? So I mean, if you're if you're going there, you've got to be able to pay it yourself. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:03

Correct. Or have uh or maybe have some kind of supplemental insurance.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:08

Aaron Powell Like a Medicare supplement?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:10

Is there I've always wondered about this when I started l thinking about it and reading about it, is there some policy of insurance that a person can buy earlier in life that would plan just in case, you know, where insurance companies could kind of game the system like, well, all these people now are scared to death. They're all going to take out an Alzheimer's policy, and only uh, you know, 22% are ever gonna make a claim.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

I mean, is does that exist in the marketplace? Well, I mean, you know, I mean, I'm next level on a lot of things. Right, yeah, yeah. Uh I'm ahead of my time. Yeah. I mean, but I mean it I can't believe you can you can bet on anything in this country.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:52

In a football game. Who scored the first touchdown? You know, who who won the coin flip, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:57

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:58

And then insurance is, you know, pro you know, prorated risk. Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:03

It's like uh so but there's no long I've heard a long-term care policy.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:08

There are long-term care policies, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:10

Is that would that fit?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:12

I think that yes. I think that's smart.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:14

If you can do that, I think or if you see that or if everyone in your family has Alzheimer's, I mean that would be I would But I mean, I'm thinking about you, and I'm thinking about Alzheimer's Alliance being the reservoir, the receptacle of of that knowledge. Like, is there a policy if people, you know, call up there and they're 32 years age and they don't have any Alzheimer's?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:37

Their mom did, and they're like, hey, um, is there a certain policy I should buy, or my husband and I should buy just in case? I mean, that's kind of what I'm curious about.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:47

I that's a good question.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:49

We may have to get to the bottom of that at the alliance.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:51

We're gonna get to the bottom of that at the alliance. We usually if people like that call, we usually refer them to other people. We don't like to get too much in the weeds on insurance and Medicare or Or really even recommending what people do. We try to guide them to make their own decisions. As you can imagine, there's a lot of liability if you if we start saying Well, uh no, I know what you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:10

Uh, but there has to be, I mean, there's always like there's lawyers that have developed into this field called elder law that did not exist when I started practicing law.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:20

And they're solely trained in um, well, if you've got a house, the government's gonna get your house. Or there's some kind of economic formula for you to go and your assets to deplete. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:34

And do y'all We refer to elder lawyers. Um and actually, you know, there's a couple in town that have been really, really helpful to our clients. They know a ton about Medicare, they know about facilities, they know a lot about long-term care, they know about long-term disability. They're wealths of knowledge. Um and so that, you know, and they help and we, you know, if you come in and you have an early diagnosis and you don't have a roadmap to, you know, how this is gonna go or what you need to do, one of the things we do say is go talk to if you have any asset, and a lot of people think they don't have an asset, but if you own a home or you're living in a home with a mortgage, you have an asset.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:11

I mean the government, they essentially do they take that over? How does I mean how does that work?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:16

If if you don't have yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:17

If I mean if you're going into a facility, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:20

Um and I guess they what? If they pay for if you went to a Medicare facility, would your Medicare not cover it all, or would it cover it all in some instances?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:30

Yes, uh cover it all.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:31

Aaron Ross Powell Okay. So when would the situation arise when a person would have a house as maybe their only asset and they needed to go to a facility, why would the government end up, you know, getting the equity in their home essentially? Or how would that happen? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:44

I mean, you would hopefully that would never happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:47

No, but I mean I hear talking with lawyers about about, you know, do you have a home?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:51

It does happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:52

Um it and it's almost like a Medicare subrogation of some kind.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:56

Yes, yes, basically. Um and that's mm over my head. You probably know more about that than I do, but I know that it does happen and I know that you know cov making sure your assets are taken care of is essential.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:10

Aaron Powell Because you can structure them where the government cannot get them. Correct. Right. Correct. Uh by certain designations. Correct. I probably need to have an elder lawyer on this show sometime to go into the financial planning aspect of a person who is an early Alzheimer's school.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:30

Yes. And we actually we have uh we call it law school lunch, and we have elder laws come and we feed people lunch and explain all this, and um and it's it's actually it's very informative.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:41

Uh yeah, I mean I don't even quite understand.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:44

Yeah, there's a lot of uh things that need to be in place to protect yourself from the government in some cases. So um I mean I know the argument.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:52

I mean, I I hear it in the law all the time. It's like, well, you know, you got hurt by someone else, you got an insurance settlement. Uh we paid for that with Medicare, so you need to give us our money back. Right. And it's kind of the same thing. You've got money, we're paying for you to be in a facility.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:09

You know, and I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

To oversimplify it, it's like it's almost like the government's like goes and probates on your estate.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:16

I mean You know, and I see, and if I look at the country from a a my a macro scale, not a micro, and I see Alzheimer's, then Alzheimer's to me is the scariest financial problem uh that I could foresee in the next 30 years as far as draining the net worth of the entire country.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:37

Yeah, and the medical for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

Medical bills.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:40

Medical bills.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:41

Your assets like your home, if it's being drawn down, right? Right. Um the impact on your kids and they're while they're trying to send their kids to college and there's all these expenses, then they've got this over here with you, right? I mean it it looks like it leaves.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:56

Or what about people that have to quit their job to be a full-time caretaker?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:59

Yeah, but I don't even know how that even happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:01

Yeah. Well, I mean, if you have someone in their forties, I mean we've had clients before who have had early onset Alzheimer's. They don't cut they don't qualify for Medicare. They have to quit their job because they're not going to be able to keep it. Um, and then you have their 40-something year old spouse that's all of a sudden the caretaker.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:21

What about Medicaid? Separate and apart from Medicare. Is there anything different uh that Medicaid will pay for versus Medicare, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:32

Again, you're gonna have to Medicaid, you're gonna obviously qualify and then have to get that official diagnosis.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:38

I mean, if I got a diagnosis um, you know, and I was under 65.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

And I and they said, Chad, you have Alzheimer's, I guess would that diagnosis allow me to qualify for Medicaid? I mean, to get some type of benefit.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:52

I mean, not in your income bracket, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:53

No, I mean, I just Right. I mean, yeah, I don't know how the qualification works at all. Right. Like, you know, I'm sure it is it mains tested?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:01

Yes. I mean So but that's I mean, that's rare, but I you know, and I don't really know because we don't deal with that specific demographic that often, obviously, because it is rare. Um what you know, private insurance is gonna have to pick up a lot too. So that's the other thing. What if this person is, you know, the insurance provider, then it just it's a mess.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:25

I mean, it's I mean, all of this lets the audience feel how stressful this must be when people start wading into this issue with a family member. Correct. I mean, it's it's not just you're losing someone you love, it's financially you're I mean you're you're overwhelmed at what's about to happen. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:44

I mean they're estimating the yearly cost, um, and this is low to me is fifty thousand dollars. I mean, to care. To take care of someone with the disease.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:56

I mean uh we've got we're gonna have to be hopeful, okay? We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna end this podcast on a on a we're gonna get on a more hopeful level, right? Yes, let's go. Uh one of these 80 drugs that's currently being developed.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:10

I mean, we I look we I mean the drug companies are good at uh at coming in in the clutch.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:16

Right? I mean, they've always got a good one for uh treatment. It's not always such a good one for prevention and cure.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:22

Correct, right? Right, right, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:24

But as an Alzheimer's Alzheimer's Alzheimer's patient, I mean I think anything that slows the disease, that's that I mean, that's what people would want right away, right? Right, right. It buys you time.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:35

It buys you time. And your quality of life, you know, and that's what we're looking for too, is like how can we maximize the best quality of life for the most amount of time um when you have this disease.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:47

We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die. I mean, that's you know, that's obvious, right? I mean, plus or minus 80 years old. Five years either way, maybe. Maybe so um you know, everybody wants to have the best, you know, 80 plus or minus five that they can have. And uh if you know you have Alzheimer's, I guess that kind of um brings everything to the forefront.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:07

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:08

Um and I guess, you know, I I guess people should be thankful for the alliance in this sense. They should think, imagine this happening and there not being an organization with a phone number to call. Right. Right? Because when people call, they have um I mean you can list them off the counseling program, screening, testing, whatever at their disposal, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:32

Correct. I mean, and there are a lot of people who you know, they're going through this with their spouse and they're like, gosh, I wish, you know, where I lived before Tyler had something like this to call when I was going through this with my dad, or y some some scenario like that. Because it is very unique. And, you know, I think we we do a disservice to seniors in our society just across the board. Um, but and I think sometimes people feel so hopeless about this disease that it's hard to for them to quantify giving money or getting involved. But, you know, we want people to have a great, dignified, amazing quality of life, and you can have that even with the disease. And the caretakers, there, you know, there is some there can be some rewards to this too for them. So um And they have to be.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:21

It's like anything else. If you were demoralized all the time, right? Right as a caregiver. Right. And you never had a break, right, it would be hard to keep the enthusiasm up necessary to do what you have to do. Right. And that's part of the equation.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:35

It's part of the equation. And we see a lot, um, unfortunately, a lot of caregivers pass away before the people with Alzheimer's and I mean that would just be a a double whammy. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:45

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:45

Because it's just the burnout, the physical strain, um, the round the clock, the sleep deprivation, everything. It's just a strain. Um it's takes its toll emotionally and physically.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:58

So the uh one of the last things I want to talk to you about is the I I think I saw it on your website. Is it called respite care? It's like if you qualify, it's almost like it gives a caregiver a night off, not a day lunch. Is that right? Am I on the right track?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:12

Yes, you're on the right track. So we do, we provide scholarships for respite care in-home and also institutional. So um, you know, people who qualify, if you're going to your child's college graduation and you need an an institutional. You don't have anybody else. You don't have anybody else. Um, we can put we can provide the scholarship to put that person in a memory care facility where they're safe and taken care of for a few nights.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:39

That's money people donated to you that you use to pay somebody else to let that person have a night off. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:46

And then we also do in-home respite for people who qualify. And a lot of times this is kind of like a lifeline. There are a lot of people who come to us like in a very, you know, disheveled, uh sad, emotional state.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:00

I mean just a nervous wreck.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:03

A nervous wreck. And they need a break. And they don't know who to call. Um, they don't know who's the good in-home health companies, they can't afford it, whatever the case is. And so we provide an introduction to respite, and we can space it out, we can do it consecutively. We kind of work with the case managers to decide what people need the most. Um, but that break can really be a game changer.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:26

Home health is does that have a place with Alzheimer's people staying at home?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:31

Yes. So um home health care companies and they they do a wide variety of things. Um, they can help administer medicine, some of them. Some of them are really kind of companions, babysitters more or less. So that you that in home health care professional, uh, make sure your loved one's not wandering or not getting in the kitchen knives.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

Here's some food.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:53

Right, here's some food, or you know, uh, and and that can provide the caretaker time to get out of the house. Um we sadly we had a client who um was going through cancer treatments. And so we for At the same time. At the same time, they were caretaking their spouse with Alzheimer's. And so we provided respite, and that person used their respite to literally go get cancer treatments. Like can you imagine?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:19

No, that's I mean, that's that's an unselfishness to a level that, you know, uh I I guess people are put in that situation where they're having to make these kind of decisions. Aaron Powell Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:29

And I mean you do what you have to do. So that's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:31

If you love someone, you do what you have to do or what you can do mentally and physically, because it's hard to really, you know, judge anybody who makes a decision that they decide to make about how to handle a family member.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:43

You see that, I'm sure, a level of guilt and this and that about uh Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:48

I mean, there are a lot of people we wish we could, you know, convince them to get them in memory care facilities sooner. Um there are some people who um get them in there too quick.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:59

I mean trying to shuffle them right in. Hey, uh the guy forgot it. Yeah, I know. They were introduced to them.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:07

We do, I mean, you know, we have to keep a levity too at work. So we do have a lot of good Alzheimer's jokes and banter about You can't laugh.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:14

That's right in life, it's too sad.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:16

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:16

I mean, it's not that it's funny that it's happening to people, but I think people have to have a release and and and some things in life that are ugly and happen to people can be seen in a funny way.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:29

Exactly. Um, you know, I always say there's always room for humor and gratitude in a room. Um and so if we can find a way to laugh about something and be thankful about our situation, we're gonna fare a lot better.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:42

So Well, I mean, people s uh it's well known that that people that laugh more are healthier and have a just an overall better physical and mental outlook.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:51

Right. And that's you know, that's one of the things going back to the day club program. You know, I go in there, um, we always have live music and people are dancing and laughing, and it's great. I mean, that's just that's good for the spirit.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:03

Yeah. Well, if you could tell, you know, the audience or anybody, because you are a professional fundraiser, um what would you say would be one of the reasons or a couple of reasons, or however you'd present it as to why someone should consider giving money to the alliance?

SPEAKER_01 1:19:19

I think if you just look at the numbers alone, um one in three people over the age of 65 is going to have an Alzheimer's or dementia-related diagnosis. So you are going to either be affected by this disease by getting it or being a caretaker, most likely. Those are just the numbers. Um I think also making sure that people in our community are educated is important. Um, and then just providing hope and counseling and support for people who otherwise may not have anywhere to go. That's what we do. Um, and I think just you know, you can't help but love providing hope. I mean, uh that's an easy sell, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:57

Yeah, it is an easy sell. I mean, it's I mean, this the part of it, it's really education, is what it sounds like to me. Right. When you cut through all of this, it's educating the people about what they're about to face and making financial decisions in other ways. It's educating the caregivers on what's coming their way.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:16

And how to manage that that reduces stress and makes it easier. Correct. I mean, that seems is that really the direction of a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:25

That is really the heart of things, and we haven't touched on this, um, but I do want to mention it because you brought up education. Uh, we're also a hub for education. We have um occupational therapy students, psychology students, neuropsych students. We're going to have medical students coming through our facility and working with these people. We're trying to educate caregivers and medical health professionals how to speak to these people, how to speak to the caregivers, how to have, you know, empathy. There are certain ways that um makes people who are aggressive and defensive and scared kind of helps, you know, bring them down by talking to them and meeting where we are, and that's part of our education too. Um, and I, you know, my vision for the alliance going forward, and we have, you know, the medical school is a great resource. We have an Alzheimer's and Dementia Center coming to the medical school. We have these amazing doctors. Um, Dr. Verma, um, she's she came, they brought her in just to be ahead of this Alzheimer's and dementia program at the medical school. Um, and we work side by side with them. We have a great partnership with UT Tyler, TJC, nursing students, um, nursing assistant students, every all those students come through our doors also. So we're offering, you know, educational opportunities and internships as well. Um, and it just goes back to m educating everyone, not just caregivers, but educating the community. We educate law enforcement, first responders, firemen, you know, so what about that?

SPEAKER_02 1:22:04

Um you know, the lack of education, I would think would have led early on to maybe some elder abuse.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:13

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:14

Right, I mean you know, people that uh are are not looking at this right.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:19

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:20

And you know, do y'all do y'all ever see, you know, something like that? You know, like it looks like the caregiver might be, you know, absolutely mean to the Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, because you know, in our lifetime they've passed laws now that that are criminal in nature uh for abusing the elderly separate and apart from just abusing a person.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:41

And I often wondered if those were kind of birthed from the Alzheimer's epidemic and the and the consequences.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:50

Yeah, and I think um I can't go too much into it, but I'm actually a witness in a trial that's coming up for elder abuse.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:57

Um and so the judge told you not to talk about it. Right?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:02

Well, I mean, I I no, actually you didn't.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:04

But Okay, but they will. They will. Okay, so they're gonna invoke the rule right now to save you from getting in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:10

I'm I'm not gonna say much more on it, but I will say elder abuse comes up.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:16

Um just like Child Advocacy Advocacy Center, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:19

I mean, you see something, you report it, and you say and you know, we work, unfortunately, we work with adult protective services sometimes. I mean, you've got to understand there are people who are living out alone. There are people living out in rural areas that have Alzheimer's and dementia, and they don't have loved ones. Um and so you can imagine some of the situations that we've been kind of called to consult on or work with adult protective services on.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:45

I'm sure that was a messy looking house.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:47

I mean, to the Yes, animal hoarding, I mean all c hoarding, um, all kinds of things. Um so yeah, it's it yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:59

Well, it sounds like to me that Smith County is lucky in a way. Uh if if you're looking for a silver lining, uh as far as Alzheimer's and support for a town, a county this size, right? That there is as much support, education resource as there can be at this time sitting right here in Smith County.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:19

I think so. And I think even if you, you know, only used our educ I think if our organization only educated, if that was the only service we offered was education, I think it would be valuable. You know, it's because it's needed um all across the board and all industries, just like I was saying, we're educating the bankers and the financial institutions and the wealth planners to kind of like what to look for and what, you know, maybe some signs that you know this person is you know beginning to start that direction. Right. Yeah. Um and so I I love that about what we do because if you're a donor, you know, go back to impact of your dollars. Like we're not just treating someone with Alzheimer's and dementia. We're educating the community also.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:03

Aaron Ross Powell What about the counties and other than Smith County? Is this a it says Alzheimer's Alliance of Smith County. Is it is it solely dedicated to Smith County?

SPEAKER_01 1:25:13

If we're solely dedicated to Smith County, um I mean I like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:16

Yeah. Okay. I mean I'm not asking that like I wish I wish you were because I think it's important.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:21

No, it's important.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:22

I don't donate to anyone other than a charity that is East is uh Smith County.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:28

Because I figure it's gotta be each community on its own. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:32

I well and it's just if in terms of fundraising and giving, we can have the most important thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:38

You'll take money wherever you get it. I know that.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:40

Yeah. We'll take but you know, having the biggest impact, you know, you want to On the people that are living here. Right. You want to scale that. And if you're giving money, don't you want to help your neighbors? That to me that's Love thy neighbor as thyself. Exactly. Right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:54

The golden rule.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:55

Exactly. And I think that it is a selling point for fundraising that every dollar that you give to the Alliance, it stays in Smith County.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:01

Well, Bonnie, um you know, we've certainly got to know you way better than we knew you before. Uh very interesting person, very interesting uh career.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:11

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:12

Uh clearly you were successful and are successful now.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:15

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:16

Um thank you for coming and talking to us about Alzheimer's, because I'm sure, like me, we've learned an awful lot more about the disease than we knew. Uh and hopefully this reassures people that this resource is available and they can call.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:29

Yes, please do. Um obviously we're online, alzalliance.org. You can drop me a line. I'm Bonnie at alzalliance.org is my email. I'd love to talk to anyone. Um yeah, it's what we're here for.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:42

Right. Anybody who who's just, you know, they feel moved to donate. They feel moved to help, you know, and uh after listening to this, they say, well, this sounds like uh, you know, a good organization. They can go to your website.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:55

Um I know there's a fundraiser, a luncheon every year called the Butterfly Luncheon, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:00

Yep, butterfly hope luncheon, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:01

And the butterfly's two A's backwards?

SPEAKER_01 1:27:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:04

Right? Yeah. I mean, I looked at I looked at your logo. Chris, I mean, hit their logo. Let's let's let's go up here real quick on the way out. Can you? There we go. I mean, I'm assuming the butterfly is the two A's right there, and that's where it came from.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:17

Yeah, it's and um unrelated.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:19

I love butterflies, but you know the butterflies that yes, I mean you do a little something here, it could go around the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:26

It definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:26

All right, Bonnie. Thank you. That's a good thing to end on, and I appreciate you coming. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:31

My pleasure. My honor. Thank you.