USA2 SPOTLIGHT

An August 9, 2017 Medium article by Jason Resendez, LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s (LAA) Lead, spotlighted the Memory Strings Kansas City Alliance, addressing the impact of Alzheimer’s disease. AD is a critical health issue affecting the sizable 65+ Latino community in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. LAA held a two-day Alzheimer’s capacity building training for community health workers and direct service providers, and a roundtable discussion with cross-sector stakeholders.

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An August 9, 2017 STAT article talked with Dr. Ronald Petersen of the Mayo Clinic, who treated country music legend, Glen Campbell, after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease six years ago. About Campbell’s farewell tour, and his family’s decision to go public, “One of his stage managers, Bill Maclay, said at the outset, ‘I thought this tour was going to be people coming to watch a NASCAR race looking for the crashes.’ And in fact, he said, ‘I couldn’t have been farther from reality.’ The fans came: They loved him. They knew this was going to be the last time they’d see Glen Campbell, and they didn’t care if he messed up. If he sang the same song twice or had to stop in the middle of the song — didn’t matter. They were there to hear and support Glen Campbell.”

An August 9, 2017 Philly.com article highlighted new research from the University of Pennsylvania focusing on the emotional impact of a dementia diagnosis, and the need for health workers to do a better job of integrating psychological support with care for people in the early phases of dementia. Patients who received a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s disease were less satisfied with their quality of life than people who were unaware of their diagnoses. Those who thought they would get worse had higher levels of depression and stress. 

According to an August 9, 2017 AlzForum article, data from the ongoing Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study shows that even mild cardiovascular problems in middle age could have serious cognition consequences later in life. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that diabetes, hypertension and smoking all boosted dementia risk. “The bottom line is that most of these risk factors are preventable. We may not know how to treat dementia, but we can treat high blood pressure and diabetes, and also quit smoking and live a healthy lifestyle,” said study lead Rebecca Gottesman.

(ICYMI) An August 3, 2017 Reuters opinion piece by Mark Miller looked to the near future and a severe shortage of paid and unpaid caregivers. "Who Will Care for Us: Long-term Care and the Long-Term Workforce,” a new book by Paul Osterman of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, examines trends in the labor force market for caregivers. According to Osterman, “It’s an absolute train wreck waiting to happen.”