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Penn Memory Center Coordinator for Multicultural Recruitment and Retention Karletta Poland (left), PMC Co-Director Jason Karlawish (center left), and PMC ambassador Karen Wheeler (center right) pose with Alpha Phi Alpha brothers after “Alzheimer’s in our Community.”

By Joyce Lee

A recent event co-hosted by the Penn Memory Center and the African-American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha (APA) called on local communities to address the growing problem of Alzheimer’s disease in the African-American population. The event, titled “Alzheimer’s In Our Community: A Call to Action,” focused on education, training, and research initiatives needed to combat this disease within this demographic group.

APA member Frederick Okoye III pointed out the high mortality rate and prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as his motivation for hosting the event.

“The most striking statistic for me, however, was the disparity in diagnosis, treatment, and the general knowledge of cognitive impairment in communities of color, particularly African-American communities,” Okoye said.

Dance for Health, a Penn Memory Center program that seeks to promote physical health and bridge generational gaps through dance, will return in 2018. Learn more about what’s in store at an information session on December 2.

Dance for Health Information Session
December 2 | 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Ralston Center
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
RSVP: hailu.tigist@gmail.com

Dance for Health hosts weekly dance sessions and social activities for older adults in the West Philadelphia community and beyond. These dance sessions are led by dynamic and engaging instructors and joined by area high school students. The goal is to get older adults engaged in physical activity and connected with their local community. As maintaining a healthy brain includes exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and keeping mentally and socially engaged, Dance for Health hopes to do its part in promoting brain health through dance in the community.

Join the Ralston Center November 20 a “Healthy Brain Aging” workshop with PMC Co-Director Jason Karlawish, MD.

“Healthy Brain Aging” will discuss how your lifestyle affects your brain as you age, what activities are effective in protecting your brain health, and how and when to do them. Registration and lunch to take place before the program, which starts at noon.

Healthy Brain Aging
November 20 | 11 to 1:30 a.m.
Ralston Center
3615 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Registration is required. Call 215-386-2984 or email aanwar@ralstoncenter.org to register.

by Joyce Lee

Those who haven’t experienced it might not realize, but caring for someone with dementia can be a grieving process, Alison Lynn, assistant director of care programs at Penn Memory Center, said last month at the Ralston Center’s workshop for family and caregivers of older adults with dementia.

As a social worker at the Penn Memory Center, Lynn explained she often helps caregivers with three major tasks:

1. building feelings of self-worth and self-care
2. communicating personal needs to family and friends
3. managing the behavioral needs of their loved ones.

With the last point, Lynn said she often asks caregivers to be “behavioral detectives” and observed that behavior can be the patient’s way of communicating.

Top row, from left: Cynthia Clyburn, Shauniqua Key, and Christine Pappas. Bottom row, from left: Arielle Schreier, Catherine Wilsnack, and Lauren Zelouf.

By Joyce Lee

Penn Memory Center recently welcomed a new team of social work interns to help develop and maintain psychosocial programs that support PMC patients and caregivers.

Cynthia Clyburn, Shauniqua Key, Christine Pappas, Arielle Schreier, Catherine Wilsnack, and Lauren Zelouf are students in the Master of Social Work program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.

They will be working closely with Felicia Greenfield, director of clinical research operations and care programs, and Alison Lynn, assistant director of care programs. Greenfield called the annual corps of social work students “integral to the PMC’s training mission.”

By Joyce Lee

Incorporating long-term prognosis, or the estimated amount of time one is expected to live, into conversations between older adults and primary care physicians may be beneficial, a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society recently reported.

Placing one’s life expectancy in the context of one’s own narrative is particularly important for older patients, the study found, and physicians might be able to help with this process.

In the past, physicians have often shied away from discussing long-term prognoses with patients, for reasons such as fear of negative reactions or fear of taking away hope. However, the study, which examined patients’ reactions to calculated life expectancies, actually found little evidence for sadness or anxiety in patients.

By Chloe Elmer

Using a PET scan, researchers can detect amyloid buildup in the brain, but a Penn Memory Center study published in JAMA Neurology found that research participants can be frustrated with how their result is described, as either “elevated” or “not elevated” amyloid.

They want a number that explains how much amyloid, but such a number isn’t available. Study authors call for those describing these biomarkers to research participants to anticipate this need and explain why, at present, a personalized number isn’t available.

The study, known as the Study of Knowledge and Reactions to Amyloid Testing (SOKRATES), interviewed 50 participants in the A4 Study (Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Study). The A4 Study is a clinical trial testing whether a drug (solanezumab) can slow decline seen in cognitively unimpaired older adults with elevated amyloid. A buildup of amyloid is common in the brains of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease dementia, but it can also be present in adults experiencing no loss in cognition. Memory problems might not surface for years, or even not at all.

By Joyce Lee

The rapidly aging population of the U.S. – which includes more than 76 million ‘Baby Boomers’ approaching their 60s and 70s – has increased national organization’s efforts to tackle problems associated with age-related cognitive impairment and dementia, the Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported.

One of these organizations, the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), recently released a toolkit centered around detecting and diagnosing cognitive impairments. The focus of this initiative is to start the conversation around cognitive decline earlier and connect patients to the appropriate resources faster than before.

Editor’s Note: David Ney was a Penn Memory Center communications intern from 2016 to 2017. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 with a degree in biological basis of behavior. He plans to attend medical school next year. This is his reflection on a year with PMC.

By David Ney

When I joined the Penn Memory Center as an editorial assistant, I assumed I would be tracking pharmaceutical companies and research labs to learn about the drugs designed to treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease.

I quickly learned that there is so much more to treating Alzheimer’s disease than can be found on a prescription pad.