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By Joyce Lee

“Is it OK to tell an Alzheimer’s patient a white lie?”

This is a question posed by one reader of the Washington Post, whose father has dementia, but an issue faced by many families across the country who are caring for their loved ones. They have to ask themselves which is worse, telling white lies or telling harsh truths?

Though this practice of telling white lies is controversial, “therapeutic fibbing” – as it’s called by the Alzheimer’s Association – can decrease agitation and anxiety in the patient and ease the stress on the caregiver.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, left, talks with former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and current Penn Memory Center patient Bill Lyon. Photo by Chloe Elmer/Penn Memory Center

The Center for Advocacy for the Rights & Interests of the Elderly (CARIE) will present its annual Spirit of CARIE Award to legendary Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist Bill Lyon, to Jason Karlawish, MD, Co-Director of the Penn Memory Center (also Mr. Lyon’s physician), and to the Penn Memory Center.

CARIE, a nonprofit with more than 40 years of advocacy for Philadelphia’s older population, will hold its annual Benefit Reception and Auction on April 12 at the television studios of WHYY. The event, Be the Voice: An Evening for Elder Advocacy, will feature the presentation of the Spirit of CARIE Award to two individuals and an organization brought together by a shared commitment to battling Alzheimer’s disease.

The Ralston Center, home to and close partner of the Penn Memory Center, recently welcomed new Executive Director Lynette M. Killen. Killen, a leader in geriatric services, has spent her entire career centered around service to older adults.

Penn Memory Center and Ralston Center have historically been close partners seeking to improve the lives of older adults in the Philadelphia area, and PMC looks to continue this important work with Ralston and its new leadership in the future.

By Joyce Lee

I don’t have Alzheimer’s, at least not yet, but when I do, will you still read what I have to say?

This is the question posed in the latest Forbes column by Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center.

What he’s getting at is the pervasive stigma that surrounds the disease. A stigma that also “spills over” to the families and caregivers of those with the disease. A stigma that can lower the quality of life of patients with the disease, that can prevent them from coming into memory centers like PMC to get diagnosed or participate in research.

This stigma will change, one way or another, Dr. Karlawish writes, for the way we diagnose Alzheimer’s disease is changing. And the definition of Alzheimer’s disease is shifting.

Dr. Jason Karlawish addresses the Securities Industry Institute at The Wharton School. (Photo by SIFMA.)

By Joyce Lee

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, challenged financial professionals to act to prevent elder financial abuse at the recent Securities Industry Institute (SII) conference hosted at the Wharton School.

The financial industry is poised at the front line of detection and prevention of financial troubles brought on by aging and by neurodegenerative disease and should take action to protect the wealth and health of their clients, he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYuacL1AfR4

The Imaging Dementia—Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) Study, the largest ongoing study in dementia research investigating the use of amyloid PET scans at sites across the nation including the Penn Memory Center, closed enrollment in December ahead of schedule.

An initiative led by the Alzheimer’s Association, the goal of the IDEAS study is to provide amyloid PET scans to Medicare beneficiaries, in order to evaluate the impact of these scans on the medical management of patients whose cause of dementia or cognitive impairment is still unknown.

Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association Chief Science Officer; Shana Stites, Psy.D., Penn Memory Center Scholar, and Heather Snyder, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medical & Scientific Relations at the Alzheimer’s Association

by Joyce Lee

Shana Stites, Psy.D., a Penn Memory Center Scholar, has been awarded the Dale Schenk Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Grant Award. Dr. Stites is a clinical psychologist and researcher studying the experience of living with a biomarker-based diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Advances in Alzheimer’s research, such as ApoE4 gene and beta-amyloid biomarker testing, are identifying persons at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease dementia. These advances in defining the “preclinical” stages of the disease are opportunities to discover therapies to slow or prevent the onset of clinical disease. These same advances also present challenges to patients, their families and society.

“The Alzheimer’s Association is pleased to recognize Dr. Shana Stites’ exceptional work with the Dale Schenk Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Grant Award,” said Heather M. Snyder, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medical and Scientific Operations at the Alzheimer’s Association. “As the field moves toward earlier detection of Alzheimer’s, Dr. Stites’ research will help inform changes in policies and practices for interventions designed to improve the quality of life of persons who have been identified as being at risk for Alzheimer’s but who have not yet developed symptoms.”

A snapshot from a Penn Memory Center Memory Café event was recently awarded a second-place prize by Dementia Friendly America.

July’s Memory Café featured a drum circle facilitated by drummer Deke Kincade of Deke Kincade Rhythm, and the award-winning photo captures patients and caregivers in the PMC community gathered in a drum circle to create rhythm and music. Chloe Elmer, then an editorial assistant with PMC, took the photo.

The photo won second place at Dementia Friendly America’s Living Well with Dementia in the Community Photo Contest, with submissions aiming to display the diversity and support within the community for those living with dementia and their care partners. Our picture along with the other winning photos can be found on the Dementia Friendly America home page banner.

Join us for Memory Café this coming Friday, March 2 featuring an interactive exhibit on Civil War medicine by the Mütter Museum.

March Memory Café
Friday, March 2 | 10:30 a.m. to noon
Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

RSVP: alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu

The Mütter Museum is a museum of medical history located in Center City that features preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments. One of its aims is to help the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, one of the oldest professional medical organizations in the country, and is named after Thomas Dent Mütter, MD, physician, professor, and Fellow of the College who bequeathed his entire teaching collection and a substantial endowment to the College in 1858. Features of the collection include the brain of Albert Einstein and the jaw tumor of President Grover Cleveland.

Felicia Greenfield, LCSW, Executive Director of the Penn Memory Center (Photos by Eric Sucar)

By Julie McWilliams
University Communications

At the Penn Geriatric Medicine practice, Shauniqua Key met with a woman recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The patient was accompanied by a friend of 20-plus years, but she no longer recognized her friend.

“The patient was a former health care worker, so being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s was especially difficult to cope with. She was very scared and disoriented, burst into tears, and asked who this person was,” Key says. “It was very hard on the caregiver, who expressed the burden of emotional stress and strain. We offered her individual counseling.”

Key is one of six graduate students from the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) interning this academic year at Penn Medicine. There, the SP2 students help clients and caregivers work through the sometimes overwhelming challenges that come with memory loss and, in some cases, other neurological or physical impairments.