NSAP recently procured a grant from the Minnesota Board on Aging to disseminate dementia information and to educate the public in our service area through the Dementia Friends network. Dementia Friends is a global movement that strives to create more dementia friendly communities by changing the way people think, act, and talk about dementia. Watch for Dementia Friends Information Sessions that will help you learn about dementia and the ways you can be supportive. Additionally, NSAP is collaborating with the CDC’s BOLD Infrastructure initiative on dementia awareness. We have scheduled three, dementia awareness opportunities in September:
Finland Farmer’s Market | Thursday, September 15 @ 5:30 p.m. NSAP will present a Healthy Brain awareness food demonstration. We'll highlight foods that may help delay cognitive memory loss and demonstrate how to eat healthy as you grow older. Take home a salad kit full of brain-healthy food!
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. Join us at the NSAP office for a Zoom presentation of a one-act play about memory loss, titled Fortune Cookies, by Bonnie Dudovitz. Find out what Mona has cooked up so that she and others can be on the lookout for the early stages of dementia. This is in collaboration with Aitkin County Care. Reserve tickets and get additional details: https://aitkin-fortune2022.eventbrite.com or call 218-226-3635 for information.
Silver Bay Library | Tuesday, September 27, 2022 from 6 – 7 p.m. The library is hosting a Dementia Friends Information Session. This one-hour session is a face-to-face discussion led by a NSAP staff member. The session is informal and includes fun activities and interaction. You’ll learn what dementia is and tips for communicating with people who have dementia. Attendees are asked to consider a practical action that can help someone in their community. The action can be big or small—every action counts! Call Wendy at 218-226-3635 to sign up. Registration preferred, but not required.
Anyone interested in scheduling a Dementia Friends Session for your church group, book club, community group or business should contact homecare@nsapartners.org or call 218-353-1464 with inquiries.
Approximately 91,000 Minnesotans age 65+ are living with Alzheimer's. Over 22,000 Minnesotans are Dementia Friends.