About Alzheimer's Online Support Groups

Alzheimer's is a progressively debilitating illness. It often leaves families at a loss for answers and comfort. The only hope for many is to find others who are having similar struggles. Online support groups for those dealing with Alzheimer's seek to make coping with the disease easier.

Identification

• There are many online groups that support Alzheimer's victims. Some of the most prominent may be accessed at alz.org and mdjunction.com. The website alzforum.org is dedicated to Alzheimer's research. Its only message board attracts those seeking specific information on Alzheimer's research. Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients will find several online support groups at zarcrom.com.

Features

• Online support groups meet in a couple of ways. Online chats provide real time opportunities for caregivers to give specific scenarios to other caregivers and seek personal advice or solutions. Message boards allow members to post questions and comments for others to answer at their convenience. It also gives moderators the opportunity to create polls and glean information about caregivers and their patients.

Benefits

• The benefits of online chat groups are often intangible. While factual information is shared between users online, the sense they are not alone can give caregivers the strength they need to carry on. The opportunity to get online may not be available for many caregivers on a daily basis, but message boards allow them to access information when they can and follow up when possible.

Warning

• As with any online community, members must be aware that fraud and abuse does occur. Some people unknowingly pass along misinformation as factual data while others intentionally pass along false and hurtful information. Use a healthy amount of discretion when communicating when anyone online. Fact check information that is shared online. Anyone who sincerely wants to impart information will provide several sources for the information they provide.

  The link between diabetes medication and Alzheimer's is a good example of how hopeful information may be misconstrued. Tests prove that patients who took a combination of insulin and another diabetic drug had fewer of the protein based-brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's. No direct link exists and further study need to take place. Posters to an online message board may inadvertently imply a definitive link that is not a reality. Again, it is important to double check the veracity of all online information.

Theories/Speculation

• Online Alzheimer's support groups often become extension of a caregiver's family. The emotional investment in an online support group is as great as a group that meets face to face. Many of these groups were created as a labor of love and maintained as a testament to a family member who eventually succumbed to Alzheimer's.