Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Annette Adams-Brown’s 87-year-old mother was an avid follower of TV news. Now Adams-Brown has to channel-surf for a less stressful pastime.
Her mother, Bertha, has dementia, and each time she hears the news about a terrible disease spreading through the country, it’s like she is hearing it for the first time.
“It produces a lot of anxiety,” said Adams-Brown, who lives with her mother in an apartment complex for older adults in Syracuse, N.Y.
“So now she watches a lot of “Family Feud,'” Adams-Brown said. “It’s good for her, because she tries to answer the questions.” She paused before adding good-naturedly, “It does get a little repetitive.”
Adams-Brown belongs to a legion of family caregivers…
