When you hear the name Terry Goddard, you may think of his legacy as Phoenix’s former mayor or as Arizona’s attorney general. But Goddard was, until recently, a caregiver for a close relative.
Terry Goddard says when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease no two situations are alike.
“And I think that's why a good guide becomes so critically important. And a professional nurse can be that guide,” he says.
In Goddard’s case, it was a close family member who started forgetting, “And then there were personality changes that we noticed that were very hard to deal with.”
He says this family member would argue, wander and even tried to manage medications.
“I mean, we had no idea what we were getting into. It was changing rapidly or seemed to be changing rapidly,” he explains.
That’s when the family turned to Jasmine Bhatti, a registered nurse and the founder of Navi Nurses. Unlike home health, which offers non-medical care, a private duty nurse can call in prescriptions, track side effects, treat wounds,
“Or if there's something else that happens, then we can usually catch it and help prevent them from having to go see the doctor because we can just call in and manage their care from home,” she says.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Arizona is home to 244,000 unpaid caregivers. At the same time, the state is facing a shortage of geriatricians and paid caregivers.
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