Alzheimer’s Association Tenth Annual Conference Planned

CROMWELL — Medical professionals and family caregivers are invited to come together and share the best practices and creative interventions for the care, treatment, and preservation of the quality of life of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut’s Tenth Annual Education Conference is set for April 5 at the Crowne Plaza, 100 Berlin Road.

The event will begin with a morning keynote talk by Anna Ortigara RN, MS, FAAN, a registered nurse who has focused her practice in the field of gerontology and Alzheimer’s disease for the past 26 years. Ms Ortigara consults with MatherLifeways Institute on Aging and is a frequent national presenter, with many published articles on workforce and dementia care topics and four videos related to person-centered dementia care and workforce empowerment.

The afternoon session kicks off with plenary speaker Dr Barry Reisberg, a psychiatrist, geriatric psychiatrist, and psychopharmacologist, who is a leading expert in Alzheimer’s disease and related areas.

Dr Reisberg’s studies have resulted in descriptions of the characteristic clinical course of Alzheimer’s disease. These descriptions in the form of scales such as the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and the Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) are measures widely used around the world.

He has also described many of the psychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and these descriptions, incorporated into his BEHAVE-AD scale, have been used to demonstrate the utility of drug treatments of these symptoms in worldwide studies.

Breakout development workshops will include subjects like: Alzheimer’s Disease 101 For Caregivers, Therapeutic Touch For Professionals, Alzheimer’s Disease and Older Adults with Down’s Syndrome, and How Does an Alzheimer’s Patient / Family Know When to Give up the Car Keys?

To learn more or to register for the conference, visit the Alzheimer’s local chapter site on the web at www.alzct.org, or call 866-3MEMORY.