Call for Nominations: Dementia Care Professional of the Year
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AFA Division Hosts 7th Annual Competition
Dementia Care Professionals of America (DCPA), a division of AFA, is now accepting nominations for its 7th annual "Dementia Care Professional of the Year" award.
The award honors a person who has demonstrated professional excellence in care, compassionate performance that exceeds expectations, and dedication to people with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses.
The competition is open to dementia care professionals of all types, including home health aides, social workers, recreational therapists, nurses and doctors. Professionals do not need to be affiliated with DCPA or AFA to be nominated. The deadline for applications is September 1, 2014. For more information or to apply, visit www.careprofessionals.org.
Learn more
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New Report Suggests Supporting Family Caregivers via Technology
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Aims to Spur Development of New Care Tools
The National Alliance for Caregiving this week released a new report, "Catalyzing Technology to Support Family Caregiving," that identifies key approaches to better support family caregivers through mobile, online and in-home technologies.
The group said it hopes the report "will help to spur development of new tools to coordinate care between caregivers, patients, and healthcare providers." The report is a follow-up to its recent roundtable that included Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, researchers, and caregiving advocates.
Among the recommendations, experts called for development of an "Intelligent Family Care Assistant" to keep track of and coordinate the family's care tasks.
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AFA Awards Innovation Grant
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South Carolina-Based Memory Matters Will Implement Dementia-Friendly Communities Initiative
AFA today announced that it has awarded its 2014 Brodsky Innovation Grant to Memory Matters, a local nonprofit organization based in Hilton Head, S.C., for its forward-thinking "Dementia-Friendly Communities Initiative."
Memory Matters will use the $25,000 grant to take a fresh look at how communities can be optimized to better support the needs of residents with dementia. It will plan and implement a pilot project that includes training local business owners on how to recognize and understand dementia-related behaviors, and communication and other strategies to assist customers with memory loss.
"Their desire to raise awareness of the disease so that people with dementia can feel safe and be more incorporated into the community addresses a critical need, not only in Hilton Head, but across the country," said Bert E. Brodsky, AFA's chairman, for whom the annual grant is named.
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Alzheimer's Advisory Council to Meet July 21
The next meeting of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services will be held July 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT in the District of Columbia. The meeting will be webcast live on http://www.hhs.gov/live.
The council, which was created to advise on the "National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease," will address the plan's caregiving goals, caregiver programs and research. Click here for the full, caregiver-focused meeting agenda.
Join the Sleeping Dreamers Project
AFA and strategic partner, Second Wind Dreams (SWD) hosted a webinar last week to introduce organizations to the AFA-SWD Sleeping Dreamers Project, a program that helps fulfill dreams of people with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses.
Joint members of AFA and SWD can apply to fulfill dreams--at no cost. The program provides an opportunity to build community goodwill, garner positive publicity, and improve quality of life for clients.
Click here to view some of the dreams fulfilled through the collaboration.
For more information or to join AFA and SWD, contact Amy Safran or Patty Belew.
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New Study Explores Memory Concerns and Development of Alzheimer's Disease
In an effort to help further identify at-risk groups for Alzheimer's disease, a new study examined the relationship between memory concerns, impairment in memory performance, and the development of Alzheimer's disease. The study, which analyzed data from 417 individuals with mild cognitive impairment, suggests that the reliability of predicting future dementia based on memory concerns varies with the person's level of cognitive impairment. Memory concerns during the early stages of mild cognitive impairment, but not as much in advanced stages, are predictive of later problems. Read more
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Member Spotlight
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National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
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Sandy Markwood (l.), n4a CEO and Carol Steinberg (r.), AFA president.
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Earlier this week, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) held its annual conference and tradeshow in Dallas. Carol Steinberg, AFA's president, and J. Wesson Ashford, M.D., Ph.D., chair of AFA's Memory Screening Advisory Board, presented a session on " Early Detection of Memory Problems: How & Why It Matters."
The event also included two memory screening workshops, facilitated by AFA, and a prominent display of heartfelt panels from the AFA Quilt to Remember.
Many Area Agencies on Aging are members of AFA, and AFA encourages other Area Agencies on Aging to join as well.
For more information about membership, please contact AFA's membership coordinator Patty Belew.
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Fundraiser Spotlight
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Danielle Morris
Evansville, Ind.
This fall, Danielle Morris will embark on her senior year at Evansville Day School, an independent school in Evansville, Ind., that is so small it does not even have a cafeteria.
Morris to the rescue! The student, who is involved in many volunteer activities, arrives early at school every Wednesday to sell coffee and baked goods to middle and upper school students and faculty. Each month, she donates the profits to a different charity. In June, Morris sent a check for $253.13 to AFA.
"The grandmother of one of my close friends has Alzheimer's disease, and I've seen how it impacts not only her life, but her family members' lives as well," Morris said.
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Morris (r.) during her recent bake sale that benefited AFA.
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Upcoming Events
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September 12 -
5 Boroughs Concepts in Care
AFA's third "5 Boroughs Concepts in Care" conference will be held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York City.
For information about sponsorships or exhibiting, contact Josie DiChiara at 866-232-8484 x112.
November 18 - National Memory Screening Day On November 18, AFA will host its annual National Memory Screening Day. For more information or to register as a site, visit www.nationalmemoryscreening.org.
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