What we’re doing, what we’re reading, and where we’ve been: it’s all here. Follow our Facebook & LinkedIn pages for updates, and forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues interested in all things Alzheimer’s. Thanks for keeping us in your inbox!
World Alzheimer’s Report
Alzheimer’s Disease International has released their World Alzheimer’s Report 2023: ‘Reducing dementia risk: never too early, never too late’. The report examines the drivers behind risk reduction and provides an accessible overview of both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.
Key areas of risk reduction include physical risk reduction, non-modifiable risks, brain health, preventative risk reduction, environmental and population-level risks, post-diagnosis risk reduction.
You can find more information and download the full
report HERE
Dementia Care Pathways
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary nationwide model – the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model.
The GUIDE Model will focus on dementia care management and aims to improve quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on their unpaid caregivers, and enable people living with dementia to remain in their homes and communities.
GUIDE delivers on the Biden Administration’s April 2023 Executive Order 14095 on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, which directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “consider whether to select for testing by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation an innovative new health care payment and service delivery model focused on dementia care that would include family caregiver supports such
as respite care.”
It also advances key goals of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which aims to optimize the quality of care for people living with dementia and their caregivers while advancing research towards a cure.
Learn more HERE.
International Guardianship Network Convention
Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons aims to promote, protect and ensure the recognition and the full enjoyment and exercise, on an equal basis, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of older persons, in order to contribute to their full inclusion, integration, and participation in society. Learn more HERE.
Silver Economy Forum: Aging for All Ages
The Global Coalition on Aging has announced their agenda for their Silver Economy Forum: Aging for All Ages, which will be held on December 6-7.
Forum agenda topics include:
- Prevention, Innovation and Health System Transformation
- Women’s Leadership in the Silver Economy
- The Multigenerational Workforce
- Age-Friendly Cities
- Investing in the Silver Economy
- The Future of Fun
Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Week
October 1st – 10nth is the International Psychogeriatric Association Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Week.
What is Awareness Week?
Today, there are roughly 1 billion people aged 60 or older, a number now projected to exceed 2 billion by 2050. Of these, approximately 20% will have mental health conditions such as dementia, depression, anxiety and substance use, often complicated by physical and psychosocial comorbidities culminating in disability. IPA is focused on raising awareness around the impact of ageism on health outcomes and to support the protection of human rights of older persons with mental health conditions. Learn more HERE.
GSA 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting
We will be attending the GSA meeting which will be held Wednesday, November 8th – Sunday, November 12th in Tampa, Florida. Mike Splaine will be part of the Kickstarting Brain Health
Conversations with Diverse Older Adults: Challenges and Opportunities session. The session will be moderated by Diane Ty, a member of the GSA Brain Health workgroup. Mike will share his insights about the American Indian and Alaska Native population and discuss the barriers, challenges, and opportunities to having conversations about brain health and cognition with this population. Register Here.
How Lighting Can Reduce Agitation in Alzheimer’s Patients
Here are some of A Well Home’s tips to using light to create a more calming environment for people with
Alzheimer’s:
- Install dimmer switches to create a softer warmer light.
- Avoid bright light: indirect lighting and floor lamps are excellent lighting solutions.
- Bring in natural light: draw curtains, place seating close to a window, or simply spend time outside with the person with Alzheimer’s.
- Maintain a consistent lighting routine.
- Consider smart lighting technology: It allows the care partner to regulate and control the intensity and duration of the light allowing the Alzheimer’s patient to maintain a comfortable, stress-free routine.
Online Community for People with Dementia who Live Alone – Living Alone & Connected!
Living Alone and Connected! is a private Facebook group for persons living alone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. It is platform for members to receive emotional support, share questions or ideas, and find resources regarding their condition and lifestyle. The group is a unique online community is designed exclusively and thoughtfully for people who live alone with a dementia / Alzheimer’s. This is to ensure the privacy of our members, and to foster a safe, welcoming, and meaningful space to connect.
Join the Living Alone and Connected group!
The Living Alone and Connected public Facebook page is designed for those who care for people living alone with dementia. The Living Alone and Connected page provides resources to those family, friends, and caregivers who support those living alone with dementia.
Join the Living Alone and Connected page!
Living Alone and Connected! is hosted and moderated by Splaine Consulting. Living Alone and Connected! is supported in part by a cooperative agreement #90ADPI0067-01-00 from the Administration on Aging (AoA), Alzheimer’s Disease Program Initiative (ADPI) and cooperative agreement NVADPI0082 from the Neighbor Network of Northern Nevada and Nevada Senior Services.
