Betty Kinter keeps a watchful eye on her husband, Jim, who suffers from dementia, at their home in Murraysville, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2021. As he does most evenings, Jim reads from a book of prayers by their bedside following an after-dinner nap.
Betty rarely leaves Jim’s side. Often she clings tightly to his arm, making sure that he can feel her standing next to him. Jim remembers who she is, but he lives in a perpetual state of disorientation, paranoia, and rapid mood swings. He shuffles back and forth across the floor of their Murraysville home incessantly, searching for something he can’t quite remember.
With the second-oldest population in the United States, Pennsylvania faces an exponential increase in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. A crisis is looming. With few resources, caretakers,often non-professional, unpaid loved ones or spouses, are left to bear the burden of care unsupported.
I spent time with three caretakers— Betty Kinter, Lee Marcuzzi, and Pat Loughney— who illustrate the physical and emotional burden felt by those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.
Photographs made for PublicSource and Spotlight PA.
Pat Loughney and his wife, Candy, sit together at the memory care facility where she resides in Monroeville, Pennsylvania on August 12, 2021. Pat visits her each day, and says that Candy’s condition can vary dramatically from day to day; she is often anxious and restless, a common disposition for those suffering from dementia.
Lee Marcuzzi and her wife, Joanne Bostjanick, sit together for a portrait at their home in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania on August 12, 2021. Behind them rests a map marked with the hundreds of locations that the couple had previously visited around the world.
Jim Kinter receives a daily notification that his daughter programmed into his watch, which doubles as a location tracking device, at his home in Murraysville, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2021.
Pat Loughney and his wife, Candy, who suffers from dementia, stand for a portrait in the courtyard at the memory care facility where she resides in Monroeville, Pennsylvania on August 12, 2021. Candy moved into the facility after bouts of disorientation and frequent wandering in the night were too much for Pat to handle on his own.
Pat Loughney fastens one of the padlocks that he installed at his home in Edgewood, Pennsylvania, to prevent his wife, Candy, from wandering off in the night on August 12, 2021.
Lee Marcuzzi transfers her wife, Joanne Bostjanick, from a wheelchair to a recliner using a lift device at their home in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania on August 12, 2021. Joanne is incontinent, and Lee relies on the lift device to move her to different locations in their home.
Betty and Jim Kinter sit together at the edge of their bed at their home in Murraysville, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2021.
Betty Kinter holds onto her husband, Jim, as he rests in the bedroom of their home in Murraysville, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2021.