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By Sharnita Midgett

How do the things we’ve experienced in our past impact tomorrow? Social and structural determinants of health (SSDoH) are the conditions—such as where we live, play, worship, study, grow up, and age—which can impact health later in life.

PMC researchers Shana Stites, PsyD, MA, MS, Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, PhD, ABPP/CN, Sharnita Midgett, MPH, and PMC Co-Directors David Wolk, MD, and Jason Karlawish, MD, and researchers at fellow Alzheimer Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) are studying how SSDoH impact our brain health as we age. In a recent paper published in the Gerontologist, the group proposed a framework for how dementia researchers could collect information about SSDoH from research participants.

SSDoH include factors like neighborhood environment, early childhood experiences, education, access to social support, parental background, socioeconomic status, early life stressors, and religion

 By Cait Kearney

Sharnita Midgett

Outreach Coordinator Sharnita Midgett, MPH, is moving on from the Penn Memory Center (PMC) to pursue a doctorate of education in health literacy at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. 

Midgett has played an essential role in PMC’s efforts to recruit and retain research participants and to provide brain health education to the public. She regularly represented PMC at health fairs, provided healthy brain aging talks to local communities, and devised strategies to increase the diversity of participants in PMC’s research studies.  

Of everything Midgett accomplished during her time at PMC, she said she is most proud of her work building official partnerships with West/Southwest Philadelphia community leaders.  

“Working with [PMC community partners] helped me grow not just in my job, but also as a person,” said Midgett. “Being surrounded by other Black leaders who also believe in the same cause that I do was really helpful and inspiring to me.” 

Alison Lynn, MSW, LCSW, associate director of social work at the Penn Memory Center (PMC), wrote a 2-part series on how to begin psychotherapy and the benefits of psychotherapy for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their family caregivers. As part of the series, Alison collected questions from the PMC community about psychotherapy. Here are Alison’s answers to your questions:

By Alison Lynn, PMC associate director of social work

“Stephanie” was hyper-focused on providing the best possible care for her husband, who had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease – not just any regimen would do. He had a special place setting at the table, adaptive clothing, and a bin of products for sensory stimulation. When he asked the same question multiple times in a row, she took deep breaths so she could answer the same way every time without losing her temper, and she budgeted twice the time it usually took them to get out of the house so she didn’t have to rush him. As a former executive, she was used to tackling problems like this. And by all accounts, she was excelling in her role as her husband’s caregiver.

However, on the inside, Stephanie vacillated between feeling empty and overwhelmed with emotion. If she ate a meal at all, she had leftovers while standing over the sink. She canceled her own medical check-ups and her gym membership. When she lost her temper with her husband, she internally berated herself for being a bad caregiver.

Summer Self-Care Series: Mindfulness and Meditation Practices for Personal Well-Being
May 17, June 21, July date TBD, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
At this 3-part series, learn techniques of meditation and mindfulness to promote well-being and engage in meaningful group discussions. All are welcome, but this program is best-suited for those who have some experience with meditation.

RSVP for Mindfulness and Meditation

David Ney

Meet David Ney.

Ney completed the Penn Memory Center’s (PMC) Communications Internship while an undergraduate student at Penn. He went on to medical school at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, where he is now in his fourth and final year. Throughout medical school, Ney has continued to collaborate with PMC, working on various projects ranging from medical education films to academic publications. 

Ney was “matched” with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to complete his medical residency in psychiatry. As he prepares for residency, PMC is catching up with Ney on his future aspirations and the meaning of his PMC training.

By Alison Lynn, PMC associate director of social work

In my last article, I described how to go about the process of starting therapy: finding a therapist, figuring out how to pay, and getting prepared for a first session. Today’s focus is on how therapy can specifically help individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their family caregivers.

“It’s only a matter of time,” said PMC Co-Director Jason Karlawish, MD, until patients book doctor visits because smart technologies detected signs of cognitive problems.

by Meghan McCarthy

Your brain is like a road map. Information travels between areas through different routes, or networks of brain cells. For individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, this travel can become difficult.  

A team of researchers at the Penn Memory Center (PMC) is striving to understand the networks of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in people living with Alzheimer’s. 

“Ultimately, this may allow for insights of disease mechanisms that will hopefully help in developing more targeted therapies,” said PMC Co-Director Dave Wolk, MD.