I see the quiet labor that surrounds Alzheimer’s care — the small, steady acts that rarely make headlines but sustain families through slow and relentless change. That is the opening message from a Phoenix-area physician who draws on a personal family history to speak directly to the thousands of Arizonans who are managing memory loss, shifting roles at home and the daily logistics of caregiving.
An Arizona doctor leans beside an elderly man in a wheelchair at a social gathering — a candid moment illustrating her personal account of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.
Her connection to the issue is immediate and intimate. Her grandfather, James Collins, once a Chicago police officer known in the family as tough, compassionate and deeply devoted, was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia when she was in high school. Over nearly a decade she watched the man she had known change as the disease altered personality, behaviors and ultimately his ability to recognize and navigate the world. That sequence of loss informed her decision to pursue medicine and continues to shape how she cares for older adults and their families as a primary care physician with Optum Arizona.
In clinical encounters she says she rarely focuses only on the patient. When patients arrive with concerns about memory, she pays attention to the person sitting beside them as well. “Dementia affects entire families, not just individuals,” she notes, describing how spouses, adult children and other caregivers quietly shoulder increasing responsibilities — from managing medications and appointments to coordinating care and making safety decisions.
The scope of that burden is substantial in Arizona. Current estimates show about 152,000 Arizonans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease. The state's caregivers — some 242,000 family members and friends — together provide nearly 379 million hours of unpaid care each year. Those statewide figures sit against a national projection that the number of people living with Alzheimer’s could rise from 6.9 million in 2020 to almost 14 million by 2060.
A frequent question she encounters is whether memory changes represent normal aging or a disease process. While some forgetfulness can accompany aging, Alzheimer’s is not a routine or expected part of getting older, she says. Red flags that warrant evaluation include memory loss that disrupts daily life; difficulty managing finances; trouble completing familiar tasks; poor judgment; misplacing items and being unable to retrace steps; and noticeable alterations in mood, personality or behavior. She cautions that those signs do not automatically mean Alzheimer’s — many medical issues can affect thinking and memory, some of which are treatable — but urges people to trust their instincts and seek clinical assessment when something feels different.
Beyond diagnosis, she emphasizes that early evaluation opens practical options: treatments that may slow progression in some cases, safety conversations, planning for the future, connection to support services and more time to make decisions together rather than in crisis. She also seeks to reframe some of the most painful interactions caregivers experience. Behaviors that feel personal — confusion, suspicion, withdrawal or sudden irritability — are often symptoms of the disease itself. Recognizing that those responses can be driven by dementia helps families respond with a measure of clinical perspective and, she says, compassion for both the person with dementia and themselves.
She outlines steps individuals can take to support long-term brain health and reduce risk factors where possible. Regular physical activity is associated with slower cognitive decline; keeping mentally engaged through reading, puzzles and social interaction can maintain stimulation; a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, moderation of alcohol and avoidance of tobacco are all measures that may contribute to cognitive wellness. At the same time, she stresses that caregivers need resources and relief: education about the condition, respite services, practical supports and permission to ask for help. Community-based programs that focus on brain health, emotional wellbeing and cognitive engagement are part of that landscape, and she references Minds in Motion, offered through Optum Community Centers, as an example of locally available programming.
In the clinic she continues to witness the often-unseen work performed by caregivers: people who keep appointments, sort medications, navigate healthcare systems and advocate for loved ones amid emotionally draining circumstances. Those acts, she says, matter even when they go unnoticed. Returning to the personal thread that opened her account, she adds that patients she now treats sometimes remind her of her grandfather. Those reminders are difficult, but they reinforce the commitment that led her into primary care. She closes with a direct message to caregivers: she sees you, your work matters, you are not alone, and there are people and programs prepared to help carry some of the weight with you.
According to the Alzheimer's Association's 2026 Arizona Facts and Figures report, the disease was the sixth leading cause of death in the state in 2024, with 2,678 fatalities reflecting a 156.3% increase since 2000. It also finds 26.5% of caregivers report depression and 17.4% are in poor health, adding depth to the unseen burdens on families.
The Arizona Caregiver Coalition, working with the Arizona Department of Economic Security, administers the state’s federally funded Lifespan Respite programs and offers both a voucher option (with tiers up to $2,400) and a Lifespan Partners option that pays adult day health centers directly for up to 150 hours per year.
The Division of Aging and Adult Services at DES notes typical eligibility rules for those respite programs: the caregiver generally must live full-time with (or within five miles of) the care recipient, the care recipient must require assistance with multiple activities of daily living, and neither person can already be receiving other federal, state or insurance-funded respite.
Caregivers across Arizona can reach a statewide Caregiver Resource Line — 1-888-737-7494 (toll-free) — weekdays for help with referrals, applications for respite vouchers and connections to local support services.
The Alzheimer’s Association’s 2026 Facts and Figures report also highlights the economic scale of the problem, projecting that health and long-term care costs for people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias will reach about $409 billion in 2026.
Optum’s Community Centers, which host programs such as Minds in Motion in Arizona, advertise that many classes and activities at those centers are offered at no cost and are open to the public, providing another locally available option for social and cognitive engagement.