The University of Antioquia in Medellin, Columbia offers workshops to grade-schoolers to help them prepare for the devastating realty that they may be required to step into a caretaker role for their parents while still children. In the region, familial Alzheimer’s rates are the highest in the world and is almost certain to pass to the younger generation even if only one parent has the genetic mutation that causes it. This devastatingly common form of Alzheimer’s has an early onset and often begins to affect an individual slightly before they reach the age of 50, and the life expectancy for an individual that begins showing symptoms is roughly 10 years. The workshops are intended to prep children for what will happen if one of their parents begins to show symptoms, and prep the family as a whole on what to expect and how to handle the situation when it surfaces.
See Gary Stix, Learning About Your Family’s Elevated Alzheimer’s Risk–As Early as Age 8, Scientific American, Nov. 15, 2014.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
