Supporting Families Living with Dementia

November is both National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month, and it offers an opportunity to recognize the efforts made to end Alzheimer’s and to acknowledge and support family caregivers. In our nation, 5.8 million people are living with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, and more than 16.1 million family caregivers will provide an estimated 18.6 billion hours of difficult, selfless, and unpaid care in 2020, with a financial value of $305 billion. The numbers, the sacrifices and the suffering are staggering. And so is the isolation that comes with this disease – an isolation and loneliness

COVID-19 and Dementia: Lessons for the Next Pandemic

People with dementia and care partners are among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly Black and Latino families. A new UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST® survey shows ongoing closures and restrictions continue to seriously affect the memory and behaviors of those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and cause enormous ongoing stress for caregivers. In our September A-LIST survey, we asked respondents, “What do you think your local, state and federal governments, and community-based groups, should be doing to help those living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and their caregivers to prepare for the next pandemic?” Here are some of

COVID-19 and Dementia: Imagining the Future with a Vaccine

With the national conversation focused on when a vaccine for COVID-19 might be approved and available, our recent UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST® survey asked the Alzheimer’s community about how their lives might change with an available vaccine. The September survey showed that 60 percent of survey respondents intend to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it is available. That’s nearly double the percentage of respondents in a recent national survey, but it still reflected concern that the vaccine development and testing was being rushed for political reasons. No community is being harder hit by a non-infectious disease in the middle of the COVID-19

Q&A with UsA2 Brain Health Equity Intern Sofia Arraut

During Hispanic Heritage Month, we have been featuring researchers, civil rights leaders, and people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias on UsAgainstAlzheimers’ (UsA2) Twitter and Facebook accounts. Today we want to feature one of the youngest members on our team working to address Alzheimer’s in Latino communities. Sofia Natalia Arraut is a paid intern with our Brain Health Equity and Access program and attends Florida International University (FIU) where she is studying Nutritional Science with a Chemistry minor on a pre-medicine track. Too often, people think of Alzheimer’s as a disease that only affects older people, but its impacts are

A-LIST Pulse of the Community (Archive 2018-2020)

A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 1, Spring 2018 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 2, Fall 2018 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 3, Spring 2019 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 4, Fall 2019 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 5, Spring 2020 A-LIST Pulse of the Community: Volume 6, April 2020

Alzheimer’s: Moving from a Wish and a Prayer to Hope and a Plan

In 2013, more than one hundred scientists from 36 countries called upon governments of highly industrialized nations to make prevention of dementia one of their major health aims. Nearly a decade later none of nations in the G8 at that time has done this, despite the increasing cadence of strong evidence that protective measures and risk reduction steps are effective in delaying onset of dementia and in some cases, preventing it. The Economist stated it unequivocally: dementia is a global emergency and governments should act now. Millions of families deserve better information and swift action. Setting a national goal to

The Power of Prayer: ‘It’s All About Breathing’

The Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans on Outer Cape Cod is an inspiring place to think, write, and to talk. COVID-19 has chased all of us out of this eclectic cafe, so we now sit outside on picnic tables in the late summer sun on the lip of Cape Cod Bay. I’m sitting today over morning coffee with the Very Reverend Tracey Lind, former Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland. We’ve become good friends. I’m here to listen. Tracey is wearing a bracelet with the anacronym: P.U.S.H. I ask her about it. Tracey, persistent in her faith, says, “Pray

Giving Voice to What Matters Most: Dementia's Not What You Think It Is

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s “Giving Voice to What Matters Most” series features the stories of people who are living with dementia or at high risk for the disease. Tracey Lind, Daisy Duarte and Greg O’Brien recently met by Zoom to talk about issues that are important to them. The three friends want to help others understand what it’s like to have dementia or be at high risk. In part four of the series, Tracey, Daisy and Greg talk stigma and misconceptions about dementia. We hear first from Tracey Lind. Tracey Lind: There are a number of misconceptions and stigma related to dementia. One

Giving Voice to What Matters Most: Days Mush Together

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s series “Giving Voice to What Matters Most”— features the stories of people who are living with dementia or at high risk for the disease. Tracey Lind, Greg O’Brien and Daisy Duarte recently met by Zoom to talk about issues that are important to them. By sharing their experiences, they hope to reduce stigma and misconceptions about dementia, and empower others to speak freely and live life to the fullest. In this episode, Tracey, Daisy and Greg talk about how they manage day to day, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracey Lind: In some ways it’s easier because we’re really