(CAMDEN, NJ) – Professionals and families received information on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia at a resource forum in one of the nation’s poorest cities today.
Attendees were given information on Alzheimer’s as a part of the larger category of dementia. In today’s forum the disease was defined, early signs and symptoms were presented along with the ramifications for families and the services are locally available. “More and more families and health care workers struggle with this difficult issue everyday,” said Krista McKay, Associate Director of Education for the Alzheimer’s Association’s Delaware Valley Chapter.
“Today’s forum helped a core function of our agency which involves raising awareness of myriad of issues surrounding Alzheimer’s and the resources available to them,” Campbell added. The forum will also provide an opportunity for Camden County Sheriff Charles Billingham to explain his Project Lifesaver. This is a bracelet program which could prove to be a life savor for individuals suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s who wander into unsafe areas.
There are more than 294,000 families in the Delaware Valley and more than 5.1 million nationwide, coping with the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other progressively debilitating disorders. It affects 1 in 10 above the age of 65 and nearly half of those that are above age 85 and At least half of all nursing home residents suffer from Alzheimer’s or a related disorder. Most shockingly however is the fact that instances of diagnosis are rapidly increasing for individuals in their 40’s and 50’s as well.
The Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter serves Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware. It is the local chapter of the National Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association. The organization is a partnership between professionals dedicated to helping people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families through education, advocacy and support.
Their goal is to provide leadership and to enhance care and support services for individuals with dementia and their families, while supporting the elimination of Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research. This afternoon’s forum is part of an ongoing lecture series held at Cathedral Community Hall, located at Broadway and Federal Streets, Camden. Recent speakers have included, New Jersey Commissioner for Health and Senior Services Fred Jacobs, Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Faye Vincent, Assistant to the President and Director of Office of Faith-Based Initiatives Jim Towey, Pope John Paul II’s biographer George Weigel, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, Ambassador L. Bruce Laingen who was chargé d’affaires of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, when Iranian militants overran the embassy in 1979, CNN Reporter and Co-Host of Crossfire Mark Shields and Ambassador Thomas Melady who served as Ambassador to the Vatican, Burundi and Uganda.
“It is hoped that this forum, held with presenters recognized as experts in their field, from local, regional and national venues, serves as a think tank and stimulus to consider ethical, quality of life, religious, spiritual and cultural dimensions of the present renaissance of the City of Camden,” said Father Michael Mannion, Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Roman Catholic Church in Camden. “We are extremely certainly grateful to the Alzheimer’s Association for taking the time and making the trip to the Cathedral to address this vital and most basic issue,” Father Mannion added.