Several hours each week, Bill Glover visits Jean-Marc Bollag at the apartment he and his wife share on Daniel Island.
He works on exercises with Jean-Marc and they take walks. They spend time together on the computer, answering emails, a lot of time talking. Sometimes Glover drives Bollag to Shem Creek or to Starbucks or to run errands.
“He is a very good teacher. And I’m a very bad student,” Jean-Marc, 86, said with a smile.
Glover is a 67-year-old professional caregiver — one of relatively few men in the industry — who launched a second career in 2014 after retiring as a clinical mental health counselor. These days, he works almost exclusively with clients like Jean-Marc Bollag who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Nearly 6 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that number is expected to triple in the next 30 years.
Bill Glover was recently named North American Caregiver of the Year by Home Instead, the home care firm where he works.
He beat out 65,000 other caregivers for the top honor. https://t.co/xpdvZl0DH1
— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 26, 2021