The Pike County Alzheimer’s Support Group has reorganized and will meet at noon today in the boardroom at Troy Regional Medical Center.

Ann Marie Hussey, group chair, said today’s meeting is open to anyone who is the caregiver for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or a family member or friend of one with the disease.

Hussey said she was contacted recently by TRMC and invited to hold the meetings at the hospital once again.

“We had been meeting at my house but attendance dropped so we had stopped meeting for a while,” Hussey said. “But people kept calling wanting information about Alzheimer’s and I realized there is a need for a support group in Pike County.”

Hussey said TRMC’s offer to provide a meeting place and resources was a timely one.

“The hospital will provide resources and information that will make life better for the Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers,” she said. “Members of the support group will share their concerns and frustrations and we’ll discuss ways that we have found to cope with the disease.”

Hussey’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1992 and died in 1996.

“People who have never had to deal with Alzheimer’s don’t understand what kind of homelife you have with an Alzheimer’s victim,” she said. “It helps so much to talk about what you are going through with others who are in the same kind of situation. You can toss things out that have worked for you and they will throw out things that have worked for them. The support group is a brainstorming session of sorts.”

Hussey said Alzheimer’s is an emotional disease and every caregiver needs someone to talk to from time to time.

“The main objectives of any caregiver are to make sure their loved one is safe and secure every day,” she said. “The Alzheimer’s Support Group helps its members to do that.”

Karen Herring, TRMC, said the hospital is proud to be a part of the Alzheimer’s

Support Group.

“At Troy Regional Medical Center, we support all efforts to improve the quality of life for those in our community,” Herring said. “We realize that caregivers play a very important role in health care and they need the support, encouragement and knowledge that comes with being a part of a group like the Alzheimer’s Support Group. We hope that those who can benefit from and contribute to this support group will join us the first Thursday of each month here at Troy Regional Medical Center.”