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The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America will host a free Alzheimer’s and caregiving educational conference for Washington residents from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 14 at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Seattle, 1101 Fourth Ave., Seattle, as part of its 2023 national Educating America Tour. The free conference is open to everyone and will allow participants to learn from experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, brain health and caregiving. To register, go to www.alzfdn.org/tour. Advanced registration is recommended.
Presentations include:
An Overview on Alzheimer’s Disease: Prevention, Treatment & Lifestyle –Emma L. Dotson, DNP, AGPCNP-BC SCRN, will provide a general overview of Alzheimer’s disease, including signs, symptoms and demographics. She will also discuss disparities when it comes to being diagnosed with the disease. For instance, African-Americans are about two times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease than Caucasians while Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease. She will also talk about prevention and treatments, including lifestyle approaches to management of the disease. Dotson is a nurse practitioner with the Swedish Center for Healthy Aging in Seattle.
Estate Planning with Alzheimer’s: More Than Just a Will- Angela Macey-Cushman, JD, MN-MHA, BSN, will discuss the importance of estate planning. She will provide an overview of living trusts, powers of attorney, guardianships and conservatorships, as well as how to protect individuals who have lost the ability to manage their personal and financial affairs. She will provide case examples of people who are planning for possible long-term care needs in the future, She is an attorney and shareholder at Somers Tamblyn Isenhour Bleck Law Firm in Seattle and Edmonds, specializing in estate planning, long-term care planning and special needs trusts.
How to Communicate with People with Dementia: Allyson Schrier, MFA, will describe how dementia affects communication and will offer strategies to increase understanding, minimize conflict and reduce challenging behaviors. Schrier is a former dementia family care partner who is now a program manager at the University of Washington’s Memory and Brain Wellness Center. She is a teacher, a dementia consultant and co-founder of Zinnia, a therapeutic video-based tool to help dementia caregivers better support themselves and those they care for.
Free, confidential memory screenings will be conducted throughout the day.
For more information or to register, 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, 866-232-8484 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 feature is available in more than 90 languages.