Despite the recent boom in assisted-living facilities, Bennett estimated that more than 50 percent of families keep a relative with Alzheimer's disease in the home, a 24-hour job that can result in heavy emotional stress. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 9.8 million family members, friends and neighbors provide unpaid care for a person with Alzheimer's or dementia.
"One thing that's true about our society is that we don't give families caring for Alzheimer's patients enough support," said Fishman, the neurologist. "Families are left to fend for themselves and in many situations aren't able to find their way toward resources."
The locks throughout the cluttered Kovacsi home were not to restrict her movements but to keep her options narrowed to a few corridors, Imre said. The back door leading to the fenced-in backyard was not locked, and he said she often went out and stood under a tree, looking off into the distance.
Imre said ankle bracelets, the kind issued to criminals placed on house arrest, should be available for those with dementia. The Alzheimer's Association offers a bracelet with a toll-free phone number that notifies law enforcement when someone wanders off, though that program relies on a good Samaritan to find the missing person first. Some jurisdictions offer wristbands that emit radio signals, but Howard County is the only Baltimore-area jurisdiction that participates in the program, according to a nonprofit called Project Lifesaver International.
Kathy's family fanned out at 6 a.m. July 16. Once they discovered she was gone, they were joined by relatives, neighbors and police. They went into the woods that surround the house on two sides, and throughout a several-mile radius. They distributed fliers in the area and as far away as Kathy's college-era home in Takoma Park.
Police dogs tracked her to a park at Solley and Fort Smallwood roads but lost the trail. When police finally found her body on Tuesday, she was a little more than a tenth of a mile away from home, a spot the searchers had come achingly close to.
Two days later, Imre stood in her bedroom amid a stack of her belongings. He remembered some of the better moments, rare as they were.
Imre said he was lucky to get a positive reaction from his wife for 10 minutes out of a week. Sometimes it was as simple as Kathy reaching for his hand during a walk in the garden, not because she needed support but because it was the way they used to walk together.
But three months ago, he said, Kathy did something extraordinary. She flipped over a photo Imre had taken of her and wrote a short note to her husband, placing it on his bed as he slept:
"Dear Imre, I love you."
justin.fenton@baltsun.com
Where to turn
The Greater Maryland chapter of the Alzheimer's Association maintains updated information on home care, adult day care, care coordination, assisted living, skilled nursing facilities, elder-care lawyers and transportation available in the community. For more information, call 1-800-272-3900 or e-mail info.maryland@alz.org .
The Johns Hopkins Alzheimer's Disease Research Center also maintains a Web site with numerous resources at www.alzresearch.org/resources.cfm .
ONLINE
More health and science articles at baltimoresun.com/healthscience
