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Show Alzheimer's support group schedules May 20th meeting the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Re-lated Disorders Association (ADRDA), located in Ogden. He said "The Northern Utah ADRDA is very anxious for our group to move forward in Davis County." IN AN effort to create a communication com-munication link between the Northern Utah and the South Davis organizations, Mr. Barton said he has been asked to become a member of Northern Utah's board of directors. He said an affiliation with the organization would provide pro-vide Davis County group members with access to state and federal information, in-formation, newsletters, bulletins and reports. "This material would be used to build an informational library focusing on the disease," he added. Individuals and family members should not be afraid of seeking help and encouragement from a support group. According to both Mr. Barton Bar-ton and Mrs. Knowles, Alzheimer's Alzheim-er's is a common disease. FAMILY members should follow fol-low a few basic rules when dealing with and caring for loved ones who have the disease. First, get help when needed. One person can't do it all. Second, stay healthy. Eating right and getting proper exercise can help a care giver giv-er remain physically and emotionally emotion-ally fit. NEXT, LEARN as much as possible pos-sible about the disease and other related disorders. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions of your physician, social worker, nurse, etc. And lastly, join a support group. These groups can be a valuable valu-able source of information, support and reassurance. The next meeting of the South Davis Alzheimer's Support Group will be held Tuesday, May 20 at 7:15 p.m. in the fourth floor classroom clas-sroom at Bountiful's Lakeview Hospital, 630 E. Medical Drive. For more information call 299-2563. Caring for a family member with Alzheimer's Disease can be an exhausting, ex-hausting, confusing and frustrating task. Family members can feel a great emotional strain as a result of caring for a loved one with the disease. dis-ease. But there are ways to make the job easier. ALZHEIMER'S is a disease that interferes with memory and mental abilities in people usually in their mid-60's and older. A progressive and degenerative disease, symptoms symp-toms of Alzheimer's increase in intensity, in-tensity, from slight memory loss and mental confusion to severe mental confusion to severe mental impairment and physical limitations. limita-tions. "Not only does a family have to deal with the treatment and the emotions of the person with the disease, they may have to learn to deal with their own personal guilt, fear, embarrassment, anger and re-sentment," re-sentment," said DeeAnn Knowles, R.N., nursing supervisor super-visor at Bountiful's Lakeview Hospital. Hos-pital. "THE DISEASE is so devastating devastat-ing to families -- especially the time, emotionaly and financial burdens bur-dens involved - anything we can do to give relief or additional support sup-port to these family members is important," im-portant," said Mrs. Knowles. This sentiment was echoed by Keith Barton, Bountiful City Councilman, who has a family member with Alzheimer's. "There is a need for a contact group to give the care taker a break from the 24-hour 24-hour demands of caring for a person per-son with the disease," he said. THE organization of a South Davis Alzheimer's Support Group is a result of interest generated in such a program following a January 1986 Health and Wellness Conference Confer-ence at Lakeview Hospital which focused on the disease. Since that meeting, the support group has met three times. According to Mrs. Knowles and Mr. Barton, attendance attend-ance at the monthly meetings has been steadily increasing. Mr. Barton has been in contact with the Northern Utah Chapter of |