Alzheimer's Association - Greater Illinois Chapter

Alzheimer Awareness
Family Caregiver Conference

Length: Full-day

Cost:

$20 ($25 - after November 3)

CEUs: None offered

Registration:

To register by phone, call 217.726.5184 or register securely by clicking here.

For a registration brochure click here.

Date and time: Thursday, November 13, 2008 | 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Location:
Crowne Plaza Hotel & Conference Center
3000 South Dirksen Parkway
Springfield, IL 62703
Map >>

A popular annual event for family caregivers, Alzheimer Awareness, has expanded from a half-day session to a full-day educational conference for the first time in 2008. The conference features education sessions specifically for family and friends of persons with dementia, a continental breakfast, luncheon and resource fair.

Below is a list of the conference schedule.

Schedule of Events
	7:30 – 8:00	Registration/Breakfast
	8:00 – 8:15	Introduction
	8:15 – 9:15	Session 1. Overview of Alzheimer Disease Tom Ala, MD, Interim Director, Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders and Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois Dr. Ala will explain how Alzheimer disease affects the brain and how the changes affect a person’s thinking ability. He will discuss conditions that may mimic Alzheimer disease and will describe the current treatments for Alzheimer disease, as well as potential new treatments on the horizon.
	9:15 – 10:15	Session 2. We have a Diagnosis: Now What? Dan Kuhn, MSW, Director, Professional Training Institute, Alzheimer’s Association – Greater Illinois Chapter, Chicago, Illinois Obtaining a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia may raise more questions than it answers. The diagnosed individual as well as one’s relatives and friends face a variety of challenges in the present and future – medical, legal, financial, social, emotional, and spiritual. This session will address these challenges and will offer practical information to successfully address these challenges. Proper education and support are critical to begin this personal journey on the right foot.
	10:15 – 10:30	Break
	10:30 – 11:30	Session 3. Please Get to Know Me: Staying Connected Despite Dementia Virginia Garberding, RN, Director of Education and Restorative Nursing, The Wealshire, Lincolnshire, Illinois Spending time with a person with Alzheimer’s disease becomes a time for creating a connection. When declarative memory is lost, the person can still be reached through “doing”. Although individuals in later stages of the disease appear to have no relationship to the outside world or comprehension of themselves, there is still a memory that can be accessed – procedural memory. When people are no longer able to communicate verbally, they can still connect to the world through their senses.
	11:30 – 12:30	Lunch
	12:30 – 1:30	Session 4. Understanding Rights of Older Persons – No matter where they reside Tami Wacker, CIRS-A, Operations Manager, East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, Bloomington, Illinois This session will cover rights of all older adults regardless of whether they live in the community or in a long-term care facility. The session will also cover power of attorney rights and limitations.
	1:30 – 1:45	Break
	1:45 – 2:45	Session 5. Handling the Everyday Moments: Understanding Behaviors as Communication Susan Frick, MSW, Social Worker, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois When caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease, the everyday moments can be difficult. The behaviors of the person with Alzheimer’s disease can at times be challenging. As the person with Alzheimer’s disease has more trouble expressing their needs, these behaviors become a way to understand what they are feeling inside. This session will look at common behaviors throughout the course of the disease, what they might mean and responses of caregivers.
	2:45 – 4:00	Session 6. The Dance of Belonging: Caring with Someone with Dementia Jim Vanden Bosch, MA, Executive Director, Terra Nova Films, Inc., Chicago, Illinois This presentation will be a visual tour of dementia care that will enable us to re-vision how we care for/with someone who has a memory loss disability. Through several film clips interspersed with reflection, we will see how caregiving (and care receiving) is shaped by whether we emphasize the disabilities or the remaining abilities of the person we care for.