By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) will host a free virtual Alzheimer’s educational conference for Kansas residents next week.
"Normally, we would be in the community," said Director of Communications Chris Schneider. "Because of the pandemic, we're going to do this virtually and it's going to be done on Tuesday, June 15th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m."
The conference, which is free and open to everyone, will allow participants to learn from, and ask questions of, health, caregiving and legal experts. To register, go to www.alzfdn.org/tour.
"We have Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr. Oz Show," Schneider said. "He's going to be a guest speaker and talk about his family’s personal experience with Alzheimer's disease. His mom, Suna was diagnosed in the fall of 2019. He, very courageously, shared that publicly, talked about the impact that it had on his family, some of the warning signs that they missed."
There will also be some Kansas-based speakers that attendees can follow up with.
"We're going to have Dr. Jeffrey Burns, who is the Co-Director of the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center," Schneider said. "He's going to talk about the latest information on Alzheimer’s research, treatment and prevention. We're going to have an elder law attorney from KC Elder Law who is going to talk about different strategies that you can utilize to make sure you get the care you need and cover the mounting costs of long-term care without draining your own savings. Then, we're going to have a session on the connection between grief and Alzheimer's."
That session with Michelle Niedens, LSCSW, Director of the Cognitive Care Network at the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Eric Sigler, LMSW, a Grief Support Specialist with Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care, will provide a brief analysis of grief and the common types of grief associated with Alzheimer's disease. They will explain how caregivers, while grieving, may interact with the individual to create healing bonds and wellness for the caretaker and for the individual with Alzheimer's.
Below is the full interview with Schneider talking about the upcoming conference.
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