Monday, March 30, 2009

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America offers information on dementia and Alzheimer's to families, caregivers, and health care professionals who work with people suffering from the symptoms of this terrible disease. Founded in February 2002, the mission of Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is “to provide optimal care and services to individuals confronting dementia, and to their caregivers and families—through member organizations dedicated to improving quality of life.”

The AFA was founded by a group of organizations with an aim to ensure quality care to people with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses and provide required information and support to caregivers and family members.

Since its conception, the objective of AFA has been to bring together organizations working in the direction to meet educational, emotional, social, and practical needs of people with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses. Now, these organizations work together under AFA's umbrella to provide valuable information and support to those affected with Alzheimer's as well as impart crucial information, resources, program design, and ensure implementation to those providing care and support to such people.

AFA is governed by the belief that by creating awareness of the disease and educating health care professionals would:

Help in eliminating the stigma of the disease
Lead to early discovery and adequate treatment
Utilize community resources to the fullest
Enhance the quality of life of people with the disease

In order to achieve these objectives, AFA has included various national divisions, as listed on its website: http://www.alzfdn.org/

There are two types of membership levels offered by AFA: member and associate member. The members often belong to nonprofit organizations, and allowed to participate on the advisory boards. On the other hand, associate members belong to profit organizations, who can also participate in all AFA activities and conferences, but not involved in AFA's advisory boards, and thus not eligible for grants released by AFA. The associate members are required to pay a flat fee to retain their membership with AFA.

Listed below are the services offered by AFA:

Toll free helpline
Social services
Education and Professional development
Advocacy
Grants

You can get in touch with experienced professionals in the field of Alzheimer’s and related diseases. You will get your queries resolved and would be directed to suitable local resources to address your needs. If you try the toll-free hotline of the foundation, you can get a host of information and counseling by its licensed social workers across any part of the country.

Seniorservicematch.com is a convenient on-line tool used to find services for seniors. This easy to use service is designed to match elderly with services that may be needed.

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