SUPPORT UNIT
At the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, we consider help and support absolutely essential for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. This ensures the quality of life of the people being cared for and their caregivers, and makes it possible to obtain the resources to deal with behavior, functional and social changes caused by the disease.
We offer socio-educational and socio-therapeutic groups for family members of individuals diagnosed with dementia, with the goal of providing emotional support and practical training. These groups are led by professionals in psychology and social work, specialized in dementia and experienced in group dynamics.
During the sessions, we address both theoretical and practical aspects of the Alzheimer’s process and other dementias. We cover topics such as:
- Understanding the disease and its phase progression.
- Cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
- Care techniques and strategies for managing behaviors.
- Tools to improve communication with the affected person.
- Available resources for caregiving support.
- Self-care strategies for caregivers.
Participants acquire knowledge not only through professionals, but also by sharing experiences and learning from others who are going through similar situations.
The groups have a small format and meet for a total of 8 to 10 periodic sessions, with an approximate duration of an hour and a half per session.
- Offer comprehensive training on Alzheimer’s and other dementias with the goal of providing tools and strategies to competently address the needs that arise in the care of a person with Alzheimer’s.
- Teach skills to successfully intervene in the increasing dependence seen in the Alzheimer’s process.
- Provide strategies to manage the behavior of a person with a dementia condition.
- Train techniques for reducing and managing caregiver overload.
- Offer support and the opportunity to share emotions, difficulties, problems, and ideas through group experience.
- Provide emotional support and encourage the establishment of meaningful connections to alleviate loneliness.
- A group for spouses of individuals with pre-senile dementia, that is, those diagnosed before the age of 65.
- A support group for children of individuals with pre-senile dementia.
- The group format is either in-person or online.
Sign up for our groups.
To participate, simply register by calling 0034 93 430 47 20 or by sending an email to treballsocial@fundacioace.org
The Caregiver Classroom brings together the training offered to family members and caregivers of individuals with dementia, through various workshops. The workshops address questions about the disease and provide practical tools to cope with daily challenges and manage complex situations. With this project, we aim to continuously improve the quality of care for individuals with dementia and the well-being of the caregiver.
- Post-diagnosis training workshop
- Streaming bite-sized sessions
Post-diagnosis training workshop
This workshop is aimed at family members of individuals recently diagnosed at the Ace Memory Clinic. The main objective is to provide clear and practical information from the moment of diagnosis, so that family members can gain knowledge about the disease and face its challenges with greater confidence and resources.
- Provide skills to intervene in the face of progressive loss of autonomy and manage behavior.
- Inform and guide about the available community resources and services.
- Train techniques to cope with the emotional and physical overload of the caregiver.
- Provide a space for support and exchange of experiences, emotions, and strategies among family members.
- Promote the active role of the family member as a therapeutic agent, supporting their emotional balance, reducing pressure on public resources, and slowing down the deterioration of the person with dementia, while improving the quality of life for both.
The workshops are led by professionals in psychology, social work, and nursing, specialized in dementia. They offer comprehensive training on the symptoms, the needs of affected individuals, and strategies for coping with changes. They also provide information on pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, techniques to compensate for functional loss, and guidance on resources, benefits, and how to access them.
The workshops are held in a virtual format, with a total duration of two sessions, each lasting two hours.
Streaming bite-sized sessions
We offer online, real-time, specialized workshops for family members and caregivers of individuals with dementia. The goal is to provide practical, specialized training to address common situations and problems in the caregiving context.
We organize three specialized workshops per year, focusing on specific topics such as hygiene and clothing, communication with a person with dementia, and risk prevention. During the sessions, we address key issues such as available resources and benefits, safety, hygiene and dressing care, effective communication, behavior management, cognitive stimulation, empowerment and emotional care for caregivers, as well as planning vacations with a person with dementia.
Each workshop lasts one hour. We dedicate the first 40 minutes to presenting the content and the final 20 minutes to answering participants’ questions.
REGISTER FOR THE CAREGIVER CLASSROOM
To participate, simply register by calling 0034 93 430 47 20 or by sending an email to auladecuidadors@fundacioace.org
At Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, we believe that support and companionship are essential pillars for individuals living with Alzheimer’s and for their families. In this way, the quality of life of both the person receiving care and the caregivers is ensured, while providing resources to manage the behavioral, functional, and social changes caused by the disease.
In line with analyzing legal and social protection measures to avoid total incapacitation as the sole and easy solution to the loss of cognitive abilities, this is the focus around which the work of the expert group in the Sitges 2009 document has revolved.
Promote the idea of partial, progressive, ‘tailored’ incapacitation to resolve specific situations and advocate for decisions that consider not only one aspect of the pathological process, but also the environment and circumstances in which it takes place, with the goal of preserving and maintaining the person’s autonomy for as long as possible
Contribute towards making Alzheimer’s disease a thing of the past
The intervention of Social Work in the diagnostic process aims to assess the degree of integration of the evaluated person within their socio-family context.
Neurological and neuropsychological assessments are indicators from which the type of care and attention the person needs can be inferred.
This information, along with the socio-family study conducted by the social worker, allows for determining the needs that may arise in the person’s care and designing the most suitable intervention plan.
If the person is diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, social follow-up is done directly with them. If, on the other hand, they are diagnosed with a dementia condition, follow-up will be carried out in collaboration with them and their family or primary caregivers, to support them throughout the entire process.