The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America will host a free Alzheimer’s & Caregiving Educational Conference in Portland on Wednesday, June 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Portland Regency Hotel & Spa (20 Milk St.). The free conference is open to everyone and will allow participants to learn from experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, caregiving and aging. Register by visiting www.alzfdn.org/tour. Advance registration is highly recommended.
“Knowledge is a useful and powerful tool that can help make any situation easier to navigate, especially something as challenging as caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., AFA’s president & CEO. “Connecting families with useful, practical information and support that can help them now and be better prepared for the future is what this conference is all about. Whether Alzheimer’s is affecting your family, you are a caregiver or just want to learn more about brain health, we invite you to join us on June 11.”
Sessions during the AFA conference will include:
Alzheimer’s Disease: What’s Good for the Body is Good for the Brain – Taking proactive steps to protect our brain health is important as we get older. Cognitive sharpness helps us stay independent longer. The things we do to keep body and heart healthy — nutritious diet, physical activity and social connections – also can help promote brain health and wellness. Alyson Maloy, MD, FAPA, FABIHM, will discuss the benefits of a healthy diet, including reducing the likelihood of dementia-related symptoms. She will talk about the best way to eat and teach participants about the Nutritarian way of eating, applying an extremely specific, common-sense way to eat that delivers maximum brain and body health.
Dr. Maloy, a triple board-certified physician in neurology, psychiatry, and integrative holistic medicine, is the Founder of Brain Health Maine, a neuropsychiatric practice which offers comprehensive assessment and treatment for a wide range of conditions affecting mood, memory, behavior, and cognitive function.
Breaking Barriers: Creating Better Care and More Choices for Families with Dementia – Ageism in healthcare can delay or prevent early diagnosis of dementia because symptoms may be wrongly dismissed as “normal aging,” resulting in missed opportunities for early intervention that might slow the disease’s progression. It also affects caregivers, who may be dismissed, not taken seriously, or blamed when they advocate for proper care for someone with moderate dementia. Jessica Maurer, Esq, will discuss this issue, including how individuals can confront cultural stigmas that cause harm to people living with Alzheimer’s disease; expand options for better health; and improve quality of life.
Maurer is the executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, a multidisciplinary network of 140 businesses and community members working to ensure we can all live healthy, engaged and secure lives as we age.
Building Community Supports for Caregivers – Having a strong community support system—together with access to resources, respite services, support groups, financial and legal assistance, and education — is essential for caregivers. No one should go through the caregiving journey alone. Megan Walton will discuss various ways to build support for caregivers — from on-the-ground outreach and resources to state level respite options — to help them provide better care for their loved ones.
Walton is the chief executive officer for the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, which serves older and disabled adults in York and Cumberland counties and is dedicated to planning and implementing social services.
Safeguarding Your Home After a Dementia Diagnosis – Dementia-related illnesses impact the mind and affect virtually every aspect of a person’s life, including making many facets of daily living more difficult. Most residences are not built with the needs of an individual living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia-related illnesses in mind. However, almost every part of a residence can impact quality of life for someone living with a dementia-related illness and their family care partners.
Paul Ballance, chief of operations for Project Lifesaver International, will provide valuable information on how you can safeguard your home. Project Lifesaver International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to locating individuals with cognitive conditions — such as Alzheimer’s disease — who are prone to wandering and may become lost.
Free, confidential memory screenings will be conducted throughout the day.
For more information or to register for the June 11 conference in Portland, visit www.alzfdn.org/tour. Those who cannot participate in the conference or have immediate questions about Alzheimer’s disease can connect with licensed social workers seven days a week through AFA’s National Toll-Free Helpline by calling 866-232-8484, texting 646-586-5283 or web chatting at www.alzfdn.org by clicking the blue and white chat icon in the right-hand corner of the page. The web chat and text message features are available in more than 90 languages.
