Alzheimer's and dementia, as Idaho News 6 continues to report, is one of the most common illnesses people over the age of 65 can develop.
The owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Boise told Idaho News 6 why caring for those with the disease is essential.
"This is my mother, and all four of these people have passed away with Alzheimer's," owner of Home Instead Senior Care, Boise Mike Powell says as he points to a photo. "This is our way of why we want to be so involved in providing care for people with Alzheimer's and other dementias."
'To us, it's personal' is the phrase Powell uses as a motto. Having family members pass away from the disease made him and his wife want to care and help others in the same situations.
So, he makes sure his caregivers have the best resources for working with these clients.
"Let's give you some tools so that you will know what you are doing. You'll have the right tools, you'll have the knowledge and it is different. It is significantly different taking care of somebody who has Alzheimer's or one of the other dementias," Powell says.
Caregivers, like Vicki Kriese, go inside client's homes and help them with whatever they need.
"We do what they request, whether it's caring for them, helping them to shower, grocery shop, go to the doctor's office," Kriese says.
When COVID-19 started, and lockdown began, Kriese says the company was deemed as an essential service, so caregivers like herself were still able to go into client's homes, with the proper safety precautions taken.
"Our clients are very apprehensive for someone coming into their home. So we've had to sit with them or discuss with them and their family members that, you know that we are doing everything we can to be safe," Kriese says.
