Effects of Dementia Inside and Outside of the Workplace

A recent Facebook Live conversation held by Kaiser Health News had valuable insights for employers, reports Workforce Associate Editor Andie Burjek. "Since the aging workforce is a ubiquitous workplace topic nowadays ... it's worth understanding that conditions like dementia, in most cases, happen after the age of 65," she writes. One point Burjek says she found valuable is the fact that Alzheimer's symptoms, in addition to a loss of memory, can include hallucinations, depression, anger, and verbal abuse. Also cited by Burjek is the sense of isolation caregivers often feel. "If your employee is a caregiver, he or she could be dealing with social isolation, estrangement from family members, communication barriers/confusion, and not knowing what terminology to use with the person's physician, among others," Burjek notes. She says employers should be mindful of such things if an employee has dementia or is starting to show dementia signs. "It's not just a memory disorder and there could be other symptoms," Burjek writes. "What you might perceive as poor behavior might be communication. And many of these people are still capable of performing many aspects of their jobs."