Alzheimer Society of P.E.I. hiring 2 more staff to boost in-person services
Workers to be assigned to western and eastern ends of Island
The Alzheimer Society of Prince Edward Island is about to have full-time staff working in the eastern and western regions of the Island for the first time.
Two first link navigator positions are currently being filled and the organization is hoping the workers will be in place and seeing clients next month.
CEO Corrine Hendricken-Eldershaw told Island Morning's Laura Chapin in an interview that aired Friday that the new staff will fill a pressing need.
"Handing out a package to you of information, or directing you to a website, is not enough," she said.
"Care partners are living with this disease 15 to 20 years at home before [patients] … are placed in a long-term care facility, so we really need that support on the ground, in the community earlier.
"Because we know research tells us when you receive education and support early, you do well with this journey."
Staff levels to almost double
Hendricken-Eldershaw noted that the new hirings will almost double the society's full-time staff. There are only three full-time staff working at the society at the moment, along with a few contract and summer staff.
The society serves more than 660 clients with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia across the Island.
Hendricken-Eldershaw said the number of clients has increased more than 10-fold over the last decade.
More from CBC P.E.I.
With files from Laura Chapin, CBC News
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