Citizen Engagement
Go Purple! Do something, host something, wear something. Your town can take action today to raise awareness and support those in your community living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
- Go purple during Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month in June. Do something to raise awareness with the movement’s signature color and paint the town purple.
- Help persons living with Alzheimer’s and their families know about the resources available at no cost for them from the Alzheimer’s Association. Host an Alzheimer’s Association outreach table.
- Join us on Wednesday, June 21st – the longest day of the year and a special day of action for the Alzheimer’s community. Create a team for The Longest Day®, a fundraising event to honor those facing the disease and their caregivers. Or, encourage your members to wear purple to recognize this important day. Learn more and sign up at alz.org/thelongestday.
- Start a Walk to End Alzheimer’s team to engage your community at alzwalkmanh.org
- Early detection matters, learn the 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease and how to recognize them in yourself and others. Host an education program in your community.
- Promote Alzheimer’s Awareness to your local neighborhood businesses and help make your businesses dementia friendly. Host a talk about “Dementia and your community”
To request Materials to help support your action, click here. Or to request an Alzheimer’s Association representative click here.
Pain has an impact on behavior, function and quality of life for people living with dementia, but is one of the most mismanaged conditions. The challenges of understanding and treating acute and chronic pain for those with dementia are complex and often overlooked. Identifying and treating pain requires the ability to listen to what individuals are communicating through behaviors and body language. To treat pain for someone with dementia we must look beyond the words. This keynote offers the opportunity to explore strategies for identifying and managing pain including the use of standardized tools for assessment and monitoring along with the use of medications for individualizing comfort measures.
Melanie Bunn, GNP, MS, RN, is a Consulting Associate at the Duke University School of Nursing, Certified Trainer, Coach and Consultant for Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care, and has her own education consulting company, Bunn Consulting. She received her degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Master’s degree in Family Health Nursing from Clemson University and a Post-Master’s Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Certificate from Duke University. She has provided primary care to older people in a variety of settings including retirement homes, long term care nursing, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and in the home as a gerontological nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist and staff nurse. In 2014, Ms. Bunn was awarded the Dr. Ewald W. Busse Award by the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services Department of Health and Human Services for her contributions to improving the care of older adults with dementia and their families.
James Wessler
Paul S. Stuka
Barry Greene
Thomas A. Croswell