December 7, 2016
Dementia Conference Draws Record Crowd
National Family Caregiver Month was celebrated in Jonesboro with a dementia conference for family caregivers on November 17. UAMS Schmieding Home Caregiver Training is doing MORE to help family caregivers understand and cope with the daily task of caring for their loved one with dementia. MORE was defined as:
Mindfulness – Types of dementia, stages of Alzheimer’s
Organize – Legal and Financial Planning
Respite – Caregiver stress and ways to seek assistance
Education – Communication Strategies, Behaviors, Nutrition
In place of the regular FREE caregiver workshops provided throughout the year, Schmieding invited guest speakers to discuss basic elements on the topics above. The day-long conference was opened by the reading of a proclamation from Jonesboro Mayor, the honorable Harold Perrin declaring November as Family Caregiver Month in Jonesboro.
The program continued with Neuropsychologist, Dr. Kristin Addison-Brown presenting what caregivers need to know about nutrition. Arkansas State Psychology professor, Dr. Craig Jones followed by giving insights from his personal experience as a family caregiver for his wife.
Lunch and door prizes were provided by various vendors on hand such as UAMS Center on Aging-NE, St. Bernards Hospice, Allcare Homecare, Dr. Addison-Brown’s clinic, Beauty Control Carlena Adams, St. Bernards Villa, Legacy Hospice, Superior Senior Care, Home Helpers and Direct Link, Elder Law Practice of Arkansas and East Arkansas Area Agency on Aging and Jonesboro Health and Rehab.
Starting off the afternoon was Douglas Jones, an elder law attorney who presented valuable information on legal and financial planning. End of life care was discussed by Donna Lowe, RN from St. Bernards Hospice; a presentation on Caregiver Stress was given by Schmieding staffer, Valerie Fielder regarding an interview with the Roger Carlisle family from Jonesboro as his wife Pat discussed his diagnosis of Lewy Body dementia and how they handle the day to day journey of family caregiving. A series of videos will accompany this interview and will be presented in an ongoing basis by Schmieding and Mrs. Carlisle who is a retired RN.
The conference was concluded with Dr. Witold Czerwinski, a geriatric Psychiatrist from Unity Senior Care at Harris hospital in Newport, who discussed types of dementia, treatments and a new trend to use the term “neurocognitive disorders” rather than dementia. He stated that a basis for admission to a behavioral program such as Unity requires a diagnosis of dementia “with” another health issue such as depression, etc.
“Please keep these workshops going! You are a great help to our community,” said one participant. Overall, 81 persons attended this conference and plans are to make this an annual event. Schmieding wishes to thank all our speakers, partners and vendors for helping make our first conference a successful program.