Everyday Living with Alzheimer’s: Creative Approaches from Research and Practice

Jewish Family & Children's Service Presents

A Your Elder Experts - Safe at Home / Geriatric Institute Project

People with Alzheimer’s have many abilities that do not necessarily diminish over time. Caregivers can have meaningful relationships and vibrant interactions with those for whom they care every day. This free, half-day, interactive symposium for professionals and caregivers will present current research and practice, offering new ways to understand and engage people with Alzheimer’s.

Dr. John Zeisel, our keynote speaker, will provide inspiration and practical knowledge as he describes the pathways to experiences that capture creativity and create meaningful relationships with persons living with Alzheimer’s. A panel of experts will offer perspectives on new ways researchers and practitioners are recognizing potential and expanding capabilities as more people live longer with this disease.

The morning will conclude with three concurrent hands-on workshops targeting specific strategies to use in day-to-day living and working with someone with Alzheimer's.

Three Social Work CEUs available.

Agenda

8:00 – 9:00      Breakfast and registration

9:00 – 9:15      Welcome

9:15 – 10:00    Keynote Address: John Zeisel, PhD, President of Hearthstone Alzheimer's Care, "I'm Still Here"

10:00 – 10:10  Break

10:10 – 11:10  Panel Presentation: Accessing Capacity and Increasing Quality of Life: Research and Practice

• Understanding memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders
  Andrew Budson, MD, Deputy Chief of Staff & Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center (GRECC) Physician, VA Boston Healthcare System; Associate Director for Research, Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center; Professor of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine
  
• The relationship between lifestyle changes and cognitive function
  Jae Hee Kang, ScD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School
  
• Changing dynamics: How Alzheimer’s affects families
  Karen Wasserman, LICSW, C-ASWCM, Director of Your Elder Experts the Geriatric Care Management Program of JF&CS

11:10 – 11:15  Move to workshops

11:15 – 12:30  Nuts and Bolts: three concurrent workshops offering practical strategies for both professional and family caregivers

• Tapping the Potential of Social Networking and Web-Based Technology
  Anna Hall, Director of Activities at Rogerson House, will provide an overview of the exciting current developments and future trends of web-based technologies to enhance communication and connection for people with Alzheimer’s, their families, and the paraprofessionals and professionals who work with and care for them.
  
• Changing Caregiver Behaviors One Family at a Time
  Beverly Moore, RN, CS, Founder and Director of the Alzheimer coaching service StilMee, will use role-plays and share specific examples to demonstrate how positive, effective communication strategies can respond to changing behaviors of people with Alzheimer’s with the goal of sustaining positive family relationships.
  
• What Do You See in this Painting? Learning from ARTZ
  Sean Caulfield, Co-Founder of ARTZ, an organization focused on enriching the lives of people with Alzheimer’s in new, yet fundamental ways, will show participants how to access memory and tap hidden abilities through exploration of the arts.

12:30    Turn in evaluations; receive CEUs certificate

For more information, please contact us at symposium@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5051.

Breakfast included.

This symposium is presented in memory of Gilda Goldstein and Leba Lebovitz.

Thank you to our generous sponsors: