The Estes Valley Voice is proud to be a sponsor of the Dementia Together 2024 educational symposium Living Well with Dementia which will take place in Estes Park Oct. 23, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Estes Valley Community Center.
The symposium offers simple counter-intuitive tools for care partners to immediately implement with their loved one living with cognitive impairment. The education taught will help them positively grow as a care partner and empower them to know it is entirely possible to live well with dementia.
The symposium will feature educational sessions, workshops, a care partner panel, local resource and business vendors, and a memory cafe for those living with dementia.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided during the symposium. Registration is open until Oct. 21and is at no charge thanks to our generous doners.
An opportunity for care partners’ loved ones with dementia to attend a memory cafe social during the event will be offered to the first 15 registered Estes Park residents. Registration with key information must be completed by Oct. 16, so that the memory cafe activities can be customized to each person’s needs and interests.
About Dementia Together
Dementia is a crisis and tragedy that affects too many people. September is World Alzheimer’s Month and Sept. 20 is World Alzheimer’s Day. While there are several forms of dementia—vascular, Lewy body, frontal and mixed – the most common form is Alzheimer’s.
Research estimates that about 4% of adults ages 70 to 74 have a diagnosis of dementia. The incidence increases with age. Approximately 22% of adults ages 85 to 89 and 33% of adults ages 90 and older deal with dementia. Women are slightly more likely to have dementia than men. Among adults ages 70 and older, 11% of women and 8% of men are affected.
The economic, social, and emotional cost of dementia on individuals, on care providers, and on the health care system is tremendous.
Dementia Together is working to change the narrative to contentment and hope. Dementia Together is a non-profit based in Northern Colorado serving those living with dementia, their care partners, families, and our community.
The organization operates under three pillars: education, enrichment, and hope. “Our mission is to make sure no one has to walk the dementia journey alone. For people living with dementia their hope may not be in a future cure, but in the current care available to them,” said Claire Richardson, outreach and resource development manager for Dementia Together.
“Until there are cures for the various causes of dementia, we help people care well, so that those experiencing dementia can live well,” said Richardson.
The services offered by Dementia Together include classes, workshops, consultations, support groups, memory cafes, social gatherings, and community events offered both in-person and online at no charge.
In Dementia Together’s education, the organization shares the SPECAL® method, a UK-originated evidence-based positive dementia care model that is understandable by anyone regardless of educational level or medical knowledge. The SPECAL® method is effective in positively managing dementia, promoting lifelong well-being for people living with dementia while decreasing stress for care partners. It is incorporated into all of our classes, workshops, support groups, and consultations. Care partners who learn the SPECAL® method say it is “life changing.”
Over the next few weeks leading up to the Oct. 23 symposium, the Estes Valley Voice will publish several articles about dementia. We would like to hear from you about your experiences in caring for a loved one, or your questions about resources for medical care and services for both individuals and care providers as individuals and families face a diagnosis.
The Estes Valley Voice is honored to work with Dementia Together to promote the symposium. If you have a story about your experience caring for a loved one, or if you have questions about the upcoming symposium, we would like to hear from you. Please email us at news@estesvalleyvoice.com or call 970-586-1888.
For more information about Dementia Together or the symposium, click here, call 970-305-5271, or email outreach@dementiatogether.org