Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease that takes a huge toll on patients and their families. The statistics presented by the Alzheimer’s Association are grim: last year 15.9 million family and friends provided 18.1 billion hours of unpaid care. Many of these caregivers find their own finances and health compromised. As the population ages, one in 3 seniors today dies with alzheimer’s or another dementia.

For children, alzheimer’s can be particularly difficult to understand. How do you explain to a child why a once-loving grandparent no longer recognizes him, or is impatient and moody?

An Innovative School Program

An idea that started in the UK has now made its way to a private school in Denver, and shows promise in helping 7th graders understand what’s happening. A recent feature by Jenny Brundin on NPR’s Mind/Shift describes the intergenerational learning program.

An integrated curriculum teaches students about the brain science of alzheimer’s and research into a cure, and has the students writing biographies and creating art projects about the elderly people in their lives. Most important the students connect with elderly people at a local care facility. There they learn to be patient and gentle, to “roll with the topics”.

For student Greg Kintzele, the program helps him understand why his grandmother has changed, and gives him insight into what’s coming next. “It’s kind of like a map for me,” he says.

A Film Explores The Slow Unraveling Caused by Alzheimer’s

A tangled ball of string unravels and slowly engulfs a man as he struggles to reclaim and make sense of images and objects he pulls from the sea where he drifts. The string, reminiscent of snakes, is an apt metaphor for the devastation of alzheimer’s.

UNDONE, named Best Animated Short at Slamdance 2009, is filmmaker Haley Morris‘ poignant animated short film depicting the progress of alzheimer’s. She notes the film is inspired by her grandfather.