By Tim Mastro

MIDDLETOWN — When Maggie Goonan’s father was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, so many people wanted to help the family.

When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it seemed like the opposite, Ms. Goonan said.

“When my father was ill and I was taking care of him, we got help from every direction, it came to us,” Ms. Goonan said. “Whereas with Alzheimer’s, it’s a completely different experience. It’s very alienating because of the stigma, or people are not comfortable with dementia.”

By sharing her story, Ms. Goonan is hoping to eliminate the stigma around Alzheimer’s and increase awareness for early detection of the disease.

She has become an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter’s public awareness campaign for early diagnosis. The campaign, in partnership with the state Division of Services for Aging and Adults With Physical Disabilities, launched earlier this month and aims to reach Delawareans through various social media and advertising activations, coupled with real stories from those who have been impacted by the illness and dementia, such as Ms. Goonan.

Ms. Goonan’s mother, Alecia LaScala, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012 at age 68.

She faced challenges securing an accurate diagnosis at first. She was originally diagnosed with Lewy body dementia before a clinical trial and a second neurologist determined it was Alzheimer’s.

Ms. Goonan said there was then some trial and error with medications while the family tried to figure out where her mother would live. First they tried at-home care, then she moved in with Ms. Goonan in Middletown but the family finally found a long-term care facility with the right resources to address the behavioral challenges caused by the disease.

“Once we found the right doctors and got on the right medications and got things leveled out, a lot of the challenges related to the behaviors and whatnot sort of stabilized,” she said. “We fared a bit better once we were able to kind of make the connections with the right resources between the right facility, the right doctor and the right medications.”

This journey, Ms. Goonan said, is why early detection is vital.

“Early detection, early diagnosis is so important because I think it gives the family and the people who end up being caregivers or advocates more time to sort of understand where the resources are, where they can get some help and what their options are,” she said. “It also allows the person who has the disease to have input. If they’re earlier on in the disease, they’re better equipped to have a say in how things play out with it and make some decisions.”

As Delaware’s senior population continues to grow, the state is projected to see a 21% increase in the number of residents living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent report by the Alzheimer’s Association.

The association’s 2022 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report showed that about 19,000 Delawareans are living with the illness. Without a cure, that number is expected to grow to 23,000 by 2025. This 21% increase is more than double the anticipated 9% growth in Delaware’s population over that time.

With this projected increase, Ms. Goonan stressed it is time to remove the stigma.

“I think, because of the stigma, people are reluctant to get diagnosed, because they’re embarrassed,” Ms. Goonan said. “They know that they’re probably going to be shunned. So I think that’s why this campaign is so important. It is trying to remove some of that, because it is what’s keeping people from getting diagnosed early, and then having access to the resources and being able to plan as early as they can to really have a chance to accept and understand what’s ahead.”

The Alzheimer’s Association runs a 24/7 helpline at 800-272-3900 and has more information at alz.org/delval, which Ms. Goonan said were helpful resources as the family had many questions, especially early on in the process.