Robert Bowden created a website to assist people caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. His father Robert had the disease and was cared for by his mother Janet. They have both since passed away. Photograph by: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Robert Bowden clearly remembers the frustration he felt trying to help his mother look after his father as he succumbed to Alzheimer's disease.
Bowden lives in Vancouver and his parents still lived in the family home in Mississaugua, Ont.
His mom never asked for help. Then suddenly, she was in hospital for triple bypass surgery. Bowden and his brothers had to take over 'round-the-clock care for their dad. But how?
Health care professionals and medical support groups always urge caregivers to look after themselves, to share the work and to get organized, but Bowden found they didn't offer him any tips on how. A detailed search online didn't offer much either.
All they offer is a wealth of information.
"It's good information, but focusing on the information isn't enough," he said. "There must be the tools to act or to implement. Nothing enables the families to get on with the care."
The professional engineer knew that his wasn't the only family that could use some help, so he set to work finding a way to empower families to follow the advice of the professionals.
He started with his mother's kitchen, where his brothers found her system of care for their father: a task list posted on the fridge door, a calendar with appointments hanging in the pantry and an envelope filled with scraps of paper itemizing the names of people, such as physiotherapists, who would come to the house to help.
Trouble was, even though there were tasks Bowden could do even from Vancouver, he couldn't see his mom's lists.
"I thought, 'Let's take those three elements and put them online,'" Bowden recalled as he described the origins of an online caregivers' organizing tool he created and financed himself called the Alzheimer's Care Centre (www.alzheimerscarecentre.com).
Bowden refined his program using the needs-based approach common among health professionals. He asked: What are needs, what are conditions and abilities, and how can we manage the tasks to get the job done with the least amount of effort?
The end result offers easy communication among all the people involved, even peripherally, in the person's care.
There is a page detailing a health profile of the person needing care, a page that shows the health trends of the person in care, and a page where the primary caregivers can post tasks that need doing and where supporting family and friends sign up to do those tasks.
The program allowed his mom to get the help she needed without having to ask for it. It made a huge difference, Bowden said.
"There is an opportunity here, beyond just helping individuals and families, to move away from this serving paradigm, which we can't afford, to enabling people to stay at home and give them the tools to connect and share," he said.
But it could also help health care professionals. They can, given access, log on to their patients' profiles and check trends.
The program is specific to Alzheimer's disease because of Bowden's own family experience.
But Bowden says much of the program is applicable for all caregiving and, as he finds time, he will add pages for other conditions such as heart and stroke, diabetes, and ALS.
It's free to use at the moment, and Bowden hopes to find a sponsor so it can stay free. Failing that, he says he will offer three months free and then charge $25 per month.
kgram@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
January 24, 2009
CANADA: Online tool helps families care for the aged at home
.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia / The Vancouver Sun / January 24, 2009
Web task list makes it easier to provide support even from a considerable distance
By Karen Gram, Vancouver Sun
Robert Bowden created a website to assist people caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. His father Robert had the disease and was cared for by his mother Janet. They have both since passed away. Photograph by: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Robert Bowden clearly remembers the frustration he felt trying to help his mother look after his father as he succumbed to Alzheimer's disease.
Bowden lives in Vancouver and his parents still lived in the family home in Mississaugua, Ont.
His mom never asked for help. Then suddenly, she was in hospital for triple bypass surgery. Bowden and his brothers had to take over 'round-the-clock care for their dad. But how?
Health care professionals and medical support groups always urge caregivers to look after themselves, to share the work and to get organized, but Bowden found they didn't offer him any tips on how. A detailed search online didn't offer much either.
All they offer is a wealth of information.
"It's good information, but focusing on the information isn't enough," he said. "There must be the tools to act or to implement. Nothing enables the families to get on with the care."
The professional engineer knew that his wasn't the only family that could use some help, so he set to work finding a way to empower families to follow the advice of the professionals.
He started with his mother's kitchen, where his brothers found her system of care for their father: a task list posted on the fridge door, a calendar with appointments hanging in the pantry and an envelope filled with scraps of paper itemizing the names of people, such as physiotherapists, who would come to the house to help.
Trouble was, even though there were tasks Bowden could do even from Vancouver, he couldn't see his mom's lists.
"I thought, 'Let's take those three elements and put them online,'" Bowden recalled as he described the origins of an online caregivers' organizing tool he created and financed himself called the Alzheimer's Care Centre (www.alzheimerscarecentre.com).
Bowden refined his program using the needs-based approach common among health professionals. He asked: What are needs, what are conditions and abilities, and how can we manage the tasks to get the job done with the least amount of effort?
The end result offers easy communication among all the people involved, even peripherally, in the person's care.
There is a page detailing a health profile of the person needing care, a page that shows the health trends of the person in care, and a page where the primary caregivers can post tasks that need doing and where supporting family and friends sign up to do those tasks.
The program allowed his mom to get the help she needed without having to ask for it. It made a huge difference, Bowden said.
"There is an opportunity here, beyond just helping individuals and families, to move away from this serving paradigm, which we can't afford, to enabling people to stay at home and give them the tools to connect and share," he said.
But it could also help health care professionals. They can, given access, log on to their patients' profiles and check trends.
The program is specific to Alzheimer's disease because of Bowden's own family experience.
But Bowden says much of the program is applicable for all caregiving and, as he finds time, he will add pages for other conditions such as heart and stroke, diabetes, and ALS.
It's free to use at the moment, and Bowden hopes to find a sponsor so it can stay free. Failing that, he says he will offer three months free and then charge $25 per month.
kgram@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Robert Bowden created a website to assist people caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. His father Robert had the disease and was cared for by his mother Janet. They have both since passed away. Photograph by: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Robert Bowden clearly remembers the frustration he felt trying to help his mother look after his father as he succumbed to Alzheimer's disease.
Bowden lives in Vancouver and his parents still lived in the family home in Mississaugua, Ont.
His mom never asked for help. Then suddenly, she was in hospital for triple bypass surgery. Bowden and his brothers had to take over 'round-the-clock care for their dad. But how?
Health care professionals and medical support groups always urge caregivers to look after themselves, to share the work and to get organized, but Bowden found they didn't offer him any tips on how. A detailed search online didn't offer much either.
All they offer is a wealth of information.
"It's good information, but focusing on the information isn't enough," he said. "There must be the tools to act or to implement. Nothing enables the families to get on with the care."
The professional engineer knew that his wasn't the only family that could use some help, so he set to work finding a way to empower families to follow the advice of the professionals.
He started with his mother's kitchen, where his brothers found her system of care for their father: a task list posted on the fridge door, a calendar with appointments hanging in the pantry and an envelope filled with scraps of paper itemizing the names of people, such as physiotherapists, who would come to the house to help.
Trouble was, even though there were tasks Bowden could do even from Vancouver, he couldn't see his mom's lists.
"I thought, 'Let's take those three elements and put them online,'" Bowden recalled as he described the origins of an online caregivers' organizing tool he created and financed himself called the Alzheimer's Care Centre (www.alzheimerscarecentre.com).
Bowden refined his program using the needs-based approach common among health professionals. He asked: What are needs, what are conditions and abilities, and how can we manage the tasks to get the job done with the least amount of effort?
The end result offers easy communication among all the people involved, even peripherally, in the person's care.
There is a page detailing a health profile of the person needing care, a page that shows the health trends of the person in care, and a page where the primary caregivers can post tasks that need doing and where supporting family and friends sign up to do those tasks.
The program allowed his mom to get the help she needed without having to ask for it. It made a huge difference, Bowden said.
"There is an opportunity here, beyond just helping individuals and families, to move away from this serving paradigm, which we can't afford, to enabling people to stay at home and give them the tools to connect and share," he said.
But it could also help health care professionals. They can, given access, log on to their patients' profiles and check trends.
The program is specific to Alzheimer's disease because of Bowden's own family experience.
But Bowden says much of the program is applicable for all caregiving and, as he finds time, he will add pages for other conditions such as heart and stroke, diabetes, and ALS.
It's free to use at the moment, and Bowden hopes to find a sponsor so it can stay free. Failing that, he says he will offer three months free and then charge $25 per month.
kgram@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
