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An elderly man suffering from dementia soils himself while shuffling down a nursing home hallway. A nurse finds him and leads him back to his room, cleaning up the mess left behind while a young boy visiting his grandmother watches in disgust. Across town, two parents bend over their infant child on the changing table and celebrate the accomplishment of yet another dirty diaper.

The older man and the child are similar in some ways, but how society responds to them is quite different. And if people living with dementia are to do so with dignity, the responsibility of ensuring they do falls on those around them, Dr. Jason Karlawish said at the ADC Caregiver Workshop at the UC Davis MIND Institute earlier this month.

“If we’re going to find dignity in dementia…we’re going to have to confront our feelings of disgust and our failure to bestow dignity to persons with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center.

The Penn Memory Center is pleased to invite our patients and friends to a new pop-up café at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City. This program is exclusively for people with memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their partners/families. Hours for this free café will be announced monthly.

“The challenges of living with memory loss can sever social connection at a time when it is needed the most,” said Felicia Greenfield, LCSW. “Memory café gatherings are a way for people with memory loss and their companions to come together to make new friendships.”

The American public is shifting towards acceptance of doctor-assisted suicide in cases of patients with terminal disease. But what about when the patient is not terminal, but suffers from a neurodegenerative disease that will rob him of his dignity?

A year after comedian Robin Williams’ suicide, his widow announced that he had Lewy Body dementia in addition to Parkinson’s disease. Had he lived on, he would have begun losing the ability to move, think clearly, and make decisions.

In his latest Forbes column, Penn Memory Center Co-Director Jason Karlawish writes that the stigma associated with neurodegenerative diseases is more closely connected with the prognosis than with the diagnosis.

“As we pursue prevention, we’ll be labeling persons with neurodegenerative diseases at a stage when their disease is largely ahead of them,” he writes. “The ways we talk about living with Alzheimer’s disease, about the future after an early diagnosis, will shape whether we feel stigma and therefore a threat to our dignity and so our desire to be dead.”

Read the full column at www.forbes.com.

A new campaign for Penn Neurosciences prominently features the work of the Penn Memory Center (PMC) and Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish.

One of three videos hosted on pennmedicine.org/neuro interviews an Alzheimer’s disease patient named Don and his wife of 35 years, Corinne.

The creative work of people living with dementia and their caregivers will be on display beginning Friday at Impact Hub Philadelphia (1227 N. 4th Street, Philadelphia).

“The Place Where I Laugh,” which kicks off with an opening reception 6:30 to 8:30 Friday, will be on display for two weeks. ARTZ Philadelphia, which is hosting the event, will present local artist Sara Steele with the inaugural Community Catalyst Award.

“Join us in reflecting on the joy of self-expression that many people living with dementia — and their care partners — experience when their imaginations soar through art-making,” the event website reads.

Free registration is available on www.eventbrite.com. Beginning Monday and through Nov. 20, the exhibit will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact ARTZ Philadelphia Executive Direction Susan Shifrin at shifrin@artzalz.org or (610) 721-1606 with any questions.

An average person with dementia will need more than a quarter-million dollars’ worth of health care treatment in the last five years of life, greatly exceeding the costs associated with other diseases, according to a recent study.

The National Institute on Aging-funded study, published in the Oct. 27 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, estimated that someone with probable dementia would incur total health care costs of $287,000 in the last five years of life. Medicare beneficiaries treated for other health issues had an average cost of $183,000.

“It provides an important picture of the risks that families face, particularly those with dementia and those who may be least able to bear major financial risk,” NIA Director Dr. Richard Hodes said in a statement. “Such insights are critically important as we examine how best to support the aging of the U.S. population.”

The creative process can provide a stimulating respite for people living with dementia and their caregivers — that’s the idea behind the theme of Creative Spirit Symposium, planned for Wednesday at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.

“The symposium spotlights the intersections of arts-centered experiences with the experiences of dementia, and how the arts can provide meaningful, stimulating and enjoyable respite for people living with the diagnosis and their care partners alike. A panel of regional experts will address the intersection of arts and dementia and engage with the audience in a lively discussion of the various ways in which programs and organizations are advancing these arts-centered approaches in our region, enhancing quality of life within our communities.” — www.michenermuseum.org

Carla Belver stars as Alice Ainsley in ‘Auctioning the Ainsleys,’ on stage at People’s Light in Malvern.

Auctioneer Alice Ainsley made a career of putting a price tag on possessions, but when her own memory begins to fade, the objects of her home become indispensable to her family.

The dark comedy ‘Auctioning the Ainsleys,’ on stage now at People’s Light in Malvern, Pa., stars Carla Belver in the regional premiere of the play by Laura Schellhardt.

In an effort to provide the public with “clear, trustworthy information on brain health,” AARP announced the creation of a new independent organization Tuesday.

The Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) brings together scientists, doctors, scholars, and policy experts from around the world to promote a “brain-healthy lifestyle.” The GCBH is an independent collaborative convened by AARP working together with Age UK—the United Kingdom’s largest charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life.

Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish has joined GCBH’s Governance Committee, which will serve as the hub of the organization’s hub-and-spoke structure. The spokes will be comprised of specialists focusing on single issues such as exercise, sleep, diet, stress, and medications.

Dr. John Trojanowski

Researchers across the nation are chasing answers to one question: Is it possible to transmit Alzheimer’s disease from one person to another?

Some researchers have taken the results of a study featured in the September edition of the journal Nature to say that it’s possible, but one Penn researcher who has studied the same data argues that’s just a misinterpreted result from a too-small study.

“Study another thousand people, then come back to me — another 7,000 people, then come back to me — and tell me what your findings are,” said Dr. John Trojanowski, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center at the University of Pennsylvania.