Palm Beach Gardens Living - August 2025

4 PA L M B E A C H G A R D E N S L I V I N G | A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 MULTI-FACETEDCOMMUNITYSERVICES Jupiter’s multi-faceted program includes key services for healthcare professionals, patients, and family members. They include: • NICHE, led by Shutes, educates nurses about caring for older adults as they face aging-related changes and symptoms, including confusion, lower metabolism/energy, memory loss, longer rehabilitation from serious illnesses, and other changes and symptoms • Community lectures on Alzheimer’s/dementia with experts from Delray Beach-based Brain Matters Research, a research organization focused on key health issues, including mild cognitive impairment, age-related cognitive decline, and cognitive enhancement • Regular in-hospital assessments by Shutes to identify patients who might need specialized care because of their Alzheimer’s/ dementia diagnosis, including a grant-supported activity cart that provides puzzles, games, Teddy bears/baby dolls, tactile stimulation items, and more • A six-week Powerful Tools for Caregivers program for caregivers with self-care tips. “All three times we’ve held the program, it’s been booked to capacity,” says Shutes. • Free, weekly meetings via the Johnny and Terry Gray Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiver Support Program, for individuals who are caring for someone experiencing mental decline or personality changes. “On average, anywhere from 5-12 people come regularly to our support group, and it really depends on what their needs are,” Shutes explains. Shutes acknowledges that caring for someone facing cognitive decline can be overwhelming and time-consuming, often made even more difficult as patients/caregivers find it increasingly difficult to schedule timely appointments with a neurologist for a diagnosis or if primary care providers do not offer simple cognitive screenings as part of regular checkups. “At Jupiter Medical Center, there’s someone who can connect you with people and services that can help you,” she says reassuringly. “A diagnosis that involves a loved one’s physical and cognitive decline is a crisis for caregivers, but people are so grateful for the support they receive here, because they no longer feel alone.” Two years ago, Jill Shutes launched Jupiter Medical Center’s NICHE Program (Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders), along with quarterly community lectures on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and on-site caregiver support groups. Based on immediate interest and increasing demand, those quarterly support groups quickly turned into monthly get- togethers…and then weekly meetings…and then twice- weekly gatherings plus an additional weekly session for caregiving spouses. The zest with which the Jupiter community has embraced these new services highlights an immense, ongoing need to support patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and to reassure their caregivers that help is available, says Shutes. SUPPORTFORPATIENTS &CAREGIVERS “People are just very hungry for information about Alzheimer’s and related dementias,” she says in her role as Gerontological Clinical Coordinator for NICHE and coordinator of the medical center’s caregiver support program. The program’s steady growth since 2023, she says, is fueled by local demand and local donors. One of the biggest challenges, Shutes acknowledges, is supporting the spouses, family members, partners, friends, and other caregivers of patients who exhibit some cognitive decline, whether a loved one has officially been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. Often, patients’ cognitive and intellectual capabilities, physical health, personalities, and emotional capabilities decline and change steadily over years and months as Alzheimer’s/dementia symptoms deepen. “It’s so hard to see someone who was independent, intelligent, and kind be taken over by a disease that renders themcompletely different than who they were,” says Shutes, DNP, APRN, GNP- BC, NPD-BC, CAEd. “The challenges for caregivers evolve and change over time. Early on, it might be the lack of empathy that someone with Alzheimer’s displays toward their spouse. That lack of empathy is just so hard for caregivers because it’s almost like a loss of love or compassion. “When spouses come to a support group for the first time,” she adds, “many of them cry that first day because they’re so grateful to find people who understand the same experiences and challenges that they face.” EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR – By Sue MacDonald – JupiterMedical Center Provides Support for Alzheimer’s/Dementia Patients &Caregiver Find information about Jupiter Medical Center’s Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiver Support Program at www.jupitermed.com/events or call (561) 263-3573.