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CT launches new 'Guide for Navigating Dementia Care' for caregivers

FILE: Caregivers and providers can access a newly created Dementia Caregiver Guide by the ϳԹ Department of Public Health and the ϳԹ Department of Aging and Disability Services.
Joe Buglewicz
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FILE: Caregivers and providers can access a newly created Dementia Caregiver Guide by the ϳԹ Department of Public Health and the ϳԹ Department of Aging and Disability Services.

Caregivers of loved ones with dementia can access a no-cost guide launched Monday by the ϳԹ Department of Public Health (DPH) and the ϳԹ Department of Aging and Disability Services (ADS).

“Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects about 90,000 ϳԹ residents, and for every person living with the disease, there are countless family members, friends, and care partners who are providing ongoing support,” said Gov. Ned Lamont, in a statement proclaiming November 2025 Alzheimer’s Awareness Month in ϳԹ.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

contains warning signs of dementia, a caregiver checklist and advice about what to expect at every stage of the disease.

The guide also has additional tips for creating a safe home, making a family plan and utilizing state resources for respite care and insurance guidance.

While the guide focuses primarily on caregiving, it also devotes some attention to , including research on the benefits of exercise and diet, social connections and intellectual activity. The guide also mentions the importance of avoiding serious head trauma by de-cluttering one’s space to minimize the risk of falls.

Access barriers persist

Despite efforts to connect caregivers with resources, getting those services can be difficult for some ϳԹ families.

Cindy Eastman is author of "True Confessions of an Ambivalent Caregiver," a memoir about caring for her father with dementia. She said her family had very few resources available to them.

"We either made too much money as a family to get assistance from some places or didn't have enough to access respite care or direct care services," she said in an email. "We often felt like we fell through the cracks. We looked into the CTFMLA [ϳԹ Family and Medical Leave], but I believe we didn't qualify because at the time both my husband and I were self-employed."

Navigating insurance coverage was an added layer of complexity, she said. When her dad had a fall that resulted in a broken ankle, he was admitted to a rehab facility, but had to be discharged after "Medicare deemed him cured," Eastman said.

"The coverage for his stay ended," she said. "We had to find an assisted living facility to accommodate him as he was still in a wheelchair and we couldn't make that work if we brought him back home."

After that proved to be to be too expensive, Eastman brought him home and the family took turns caregiving until his death.

Racial barriers also persist. Older Black Americans are twice as likely as older white Americans to have dementia. But only 20% of Black Americans said they had no barriers to quality health care and support,

Learn more
is available in English and Spanish.

A wallet card and flier are available for .

Sujata Srinivasan is ϳԹ Radio’s senior health reporter. Prior to that, she was a senior producer for Where We Live, a newsroom editor, and from 2010-2014, a business reporter for the station.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that ϳԹ relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from ϳԹ, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de ϳԹ, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that ϳԹ relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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ϳԹ’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.