I’ve been doing a bit of research lately on women and dementia.  Self-serving to some extent, I have to admit.  The curse of being a gerontologist is that as I get older, I start imagining I’m developing signs and symptoms of every mental and physical issue I see working with elders and their caregivers!

One big question that I’ve been talking to friends in my age-range about is that we are the first cohort of women receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) before and during menopause, and beyond.  Now the question is “how far beyond, is far enough?”  Do we continue with HRT beyond a certain age? Will Medicare cover for this when we get to 65? Do the positives outweigh the negatives? When I start digging around and reading research studies on this topic there are widely conflicting views.  Who does one believe since there isn’t a great trust level in women for health studies conducted on women. One dilemma for me personally is, do I continue with HRT in hopes it will slow down the possible development of cognitive impairment, or do I discontinue it because of other health risks? These are such deeply individual decisions.

All these questions led me to looking at the bigger picture of women and dementia.

One doesn’t have to look too far to realize that more women live with dementia than men, more informal care is provided by women, the formal care workforce is predominantly female, particularly in dementia care.  I didn’t have to lift that from the Women and Dementia – A Global Research Review (Alzheimer’s Disease International) published in 2015. For any of us working in the many worlds of eldercare – daughters, wives, partners, health care professionals – we know this. We see it every day. We are like the consciousness raising women’s groups of the sixties. We talk amongst ourselves in hushed tones of secret sisterhood, about the gender inequalities and pay gaps, the caregiver burden that falls disproportionately on women’s shoulders, the significantly higher number of women in memory care centers and the impact that has on the type of care received. The Sandwich Generation has aged into now being responsible for millennials, grandchildren, and very old parents – elder parents for boomers means those in their late 80’s and early 90’s.

One doesn’t have to hold feminist views to realize that dementia caregiving needs be viewed through a gendered lens.  This means that research, design of care environments, and caregiving training would do well to explicitly address the needs of women. Isn’t it time for the “industry” of dementia care to raise the bar on more intensive and creative training for caregivers that will go hand-in-hand with, at the very least, livable wages? The physical health, mental health and financial implications of dementia on women need to be championed by us – the women affected – so as to provide the best possible care for women and men affected by dementia.

If you’re left with the questions, “Who can I voice my opinion to about this?” or “What are next steps for change?” please contact me because, after writing this blog post, I have a lot of energy to spearhead the equivalent of a Conscious Raising Women’s Group interested in shaking things up!