Help deserving families caring for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s disease by sponsoring an Easter Care Basket with your donation of $50. Each basket will be hand delivered by an ACA volunteer. It is easy to remember those in need at Christmas, but the families we serve have needs year-round! Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama is currently providing services for 282 Alabama families living with dementia in 18 counties across the state. We are financially supporting 70 families with scholarships to attend adult day care. Continence supplies are shipped to 151 people and Ensure is being shipped to 110. Project Lifesaver bracelets keep loved ones safe from wandering. https://alzca.org/carebasket/
Real-World Dementia Care with Dr. Natali Edmonds, presented by Founder’s Place, March 19, 10:00 – 1:30 pm, Vestavia Hills Methodist Church (2061 Kentucky Ave, Birmingham, AL 35216). Natali Edmonds, a board-certified Geropsychologist and founder of Dementia Careblazers, has dedicated her career to making the dementia caregiving journey a little easier and a lot more informed for both family members and professional caregivers. https://saintlukes.shelbynextchms.com/external/form/dc361ca5-49ac-4915-bac1-d25a3c80f928
Encore’s Side by Side Choir will start their Spring Session with rehearsals on Tuesdays, March 19 – May 14, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Wesley Hall, Canterbury UMC, 350 Overbrook Road. Everyone is welcome! No prior singing experience required. Please register by 3/17 by emailing encorepatti@gmail.com.
Local Physician and author, Renee Harmon is speaking on “How to Build Your Caregiving Team” at Christ Church PCA, March 19 at 6:00 pm. 114 Watterson Parkway, Trussville. For more information, contact Julie Slagle at: jslagle@lakesidehospice.org
Join Founders Place and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church every second Thursday of the month at 1:15, for a dementia-friendly communion service in the Chapel. All are invited. This is specially designed to be accessible, inclusive, and casual. There will be worship, reading of scripture, prayer, and communion. No RSVP needed. 3736 Montrose Road, 35213.
Support Group Meetings:
- ACA’s support group with Miller & Vance, Tuesday, March 19, 11 – noon CT. Call (205) 871-7970 or mpiggott@alzca.org. Join us on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85247427423
- CJFS CARES, Mondays at 3 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
- St Lukes Episcopal Church on Tuesdays at 10:15. Contact Betsy Smith (smith35213@gmail.com) or Janis Cole (janiscarole3@aol.com).
- West Alabama Area Agency on Aging, Caregiver Support Group, Tuesdays, contact Nikki Poe, nikki.poe@westal.org.
- The Oaks on Parkwood, 4th Tuesday’s, 10:00 am, Contact: Karen Glover, karenrglover@gmail.com.
- CJFS CARES, Tuesdays, 7:00 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
- United Way Area Agency on Aging of Jefferson County, 3rd Tuesday of each month 11:30-12:30, contact Valarie Lawson, vlawson@uwaaa.org
- Leeds, 1st Tuesday, 6:30 pm. Contact Julie Slagle jslagle@lakesidehospice.org
- Pell City, 2nd Tuesday, 2:30 pm. Contact Julie Slagle, jslagle@lakesidehospice.org
- M4A virtual support group, 3rd Wednesday’s 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Contact Chalane Mims, cmims@m4a.org.
- Trinity United Methodist Church, every Thursday at 2:30 pm, contact Ernie at 205-370-0032 or emailewillis@trinitybirmimgham.com.
- Asbury United Methodist Church 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 1:00, contact Maggie Dunaway at mdunaway@asburyonline.org.
- AFTD support group, second Tuesday of the month. Amber Guy: 251-281-5344.
- Discovery United Methodist Church, Hoover, the first and third Thursday of each month. Peggy Harrison: pharrison@discoveryumc.org.
- St. Mark’s UMC, Vestavia Hills, Fridays at 1 pm. Contact Donna Baird: (205)717-9880.
March Webinars from Alabama Lifespan Respite: https://alabamarespite.org/events2/
Alzheimer’s News:
It’s Brain Awareness Week – how well do you know your brain? Brain Awareness Week promotes brain knowledge and brain science. The goal of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is to help us be BRAIN POWERFUL – and that starts with being informed. Eating a healthy diet, exercising, and getting good sleep can help reduce our risk of Alzheimer’s. But what’s next? Continue your brain health journey by taking the BrainGuide memory questionnaire. BrainGuide offers two memory questionnaires: one for yourself, and another for someone you care about. Each questionnaire takes less than ten minutes to complete, and responses are confidential. When you’re done, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s will send you tailored resources based on the answers you provided. https://mybrainguide.org/?sourceid=1084037&emci=8d6a4a9b-afdc-ee11-85fb-002248223794&emdi=b6312998-cadf-ee11-85fb-002248223794&ceid=812012
The Alabama Department of Senior Services (ADSS), in partnership with the area agencies on aging want to hear from you. Every four years, ADSS completes a State Plan on Aging that acts as a blueprint of advocacy efforts and services to help meet the needs of senior adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers so they can live at home for as long as possible. If you are a senior adult, person with a disability, caregiver, and/or someone who’s interested in people living at home and their communities for as long as possible, please complete the short anonymous Needs Assessment, by April 12. https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=b13dvvy81EaRjX-yEOV4l8RCyObzOTREljif-c2_ESxUNkVNRUM1SEQ4Uzg0QTBOR1BLREU0RTFZUyQlQCN0PWcu
AFA’s Teen Alzheimer’s Awareness Scholarship provides educational funding to college-bound high school seniors who have been impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. Applicants are asked to write an essay (1,500 word maximum) or submit a video no more than 4 minutes long, describing the impact of Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia-related illness on themselves, their families or their communities, and what they have learned. The grand prize winner receives $5,000, with additional prizes awarded for runners up. More than $428,000 in college scholarships have been awarded since the program’s inception. To qualify for AFA’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Scholarship, the student:
- Must currently be a senior in high school.
- Be attending a U.S. college/university in the fall following graduation.
- Must live in the United States.
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- Submit the essay/video NO LATER than 5:00 pm ET on April 1, 2024.
- Provide all requested supporting documents.
https://alzfdn.org/young-leaders-of-afa/alzheimers-awareness-scholarship/
The results of a large longitudinal study spanning several years support a decrease in the risk for dementia among older adults who regularly use the internet for < 2 hours per day. Several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (though with relatively short follow-up periods) suggest that regular internet use helps maintain cognitive reserve, although some observers have voiced skepticism. According to some studies, memory, cognitive performance, and verbal reasoning tend to be better preserved among internet users. Several factors come into play, including socioeconomic disparities, socio-educational level, and generational differences, since internet usage varies qualitatively and quantitatively with age. The risk for dementia appears to be approximately twice as low among regular internet users compared with nonusers. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/does-internet-protect-elderly-cognitive-decline-2024a10003if?ecd=mkm_ret_240302_mscpmrk_neuro_alzheimers_etid6347589&uac=407526BK&impID=6347589
People with essential tremor (ET) have nearly three times increased risk of developing dementia compared with the general population, new research showed. In a prospective, longitudinal study, incidence of dementia was nearly 20% among older adults with ET. However, the rates were lower than those in adults with Parkinson’s disease. The study is the most complete exposition of the longitudinal trajectory of cognitive impairment in an ET cohort. According to the researchers, the days of viewing ET as just a ‘nuisance tremor’ are over. This study shatters the notion that essential tremor is a trivial condition. This study represents a seismic shift in how we understand essential tremor. The benign label no longer applies given the cognitive risks ET patients face. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/essential-tremor-tied-threefold-increased-risk-dementia-2024a10004qd?ecd=wnl_dne1_240314_MSCPEDIT_etid6373969&uac=407526BK&impID=6373969
The initial symptoms of FTD may include changes in personality, behavior and language production. For instance, some FTD patients exhibit inappropriate social behavior, impulsivity and loss of empathy. Others struggle to find words and to express themselves. This insidious disease can be especially hard for families and loved ones to deal with. There is no cure for FTD, and there are no effective treatments. UMass Chan Medical School’s Frontotemopral Dementia Research Center founding director Fen-Biao Gao explains more about FTD: https://www.beingpatient.com/ftd-dementia-wendy-williams/?utm_source=Being+Patient+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ef1c10478f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_06_03_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_95b92454c1-ef1c10478f-109213217
Low serum vitamin D levels have been linked to higher risks for heart disease, cancer, falls, COVID, dementia, C diff, and others. And yet, when we do randomized trials of vitamin D supplementation — the thing that can prove that the low level was causally linked to the outcome of interest — researchers get negative results. Vitamin supplements are an $800 million-a-year industry. Read more to decide if you should include a vitamin D supplement in your regimen or conclude that vitamin D levels are a convenient marker of various lifestyle factors that are associated with better outcomes: exercise, getting outside, eating a varied diet.
For many people caring for a loved one with memory loss, the time will come when they must transfer that person into long-term care. This is rarely easy. Get tips from AFA on transitioning to long-term care: https://alzfdn.org/transitioning-to-long-term-care/
Researchers at UAB are conducting a study is to explore the role of psychological flexibility and self-compassion in the mental health of family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Insights gained from this survey will contribute to a better understanding of how to provide further support to family caregivers. Any family caregivers of persons living with dementia are eligible to participate, and participants will receive $35 compensation (ClinCard) upon survey completion. Additional information regarding the study and compensation is available within the link, prior to beginning the survey. https://uab.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1T7IMii6oUh23hI