Coping with Dementia Series to be Presented by UAMS Institute on Aging

By Yavonda Chase

| LITTLE ROCK — A series of free lunchtime lectures focused on coping with dementia will be held at noon on Wednesdays from March 9 through Sept. 14 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.

Presented by the Reynolds Institute’s Walker Memory Center, each one-hour “Lunch and Learn — For Patients and Families” session will start at noon with a 20-minute lecture and followed by a 40-minute question and answer discussion.

For more information call 501-526-6884.

While the lectures are targeted to caregiver concerns, dementia patients are welcome to attend these sessions with their family members. Attendees also may bring brown-bag lunches to the lectures or dine in the Generations Café before or after each event. A lecture will be presented every two weeks in Room 1180 on the ground floor of the Reynolds Institute.

The first six sessions along with their topics and presenters are:

  • March 9 — Managing Caregiver Stress, Denise Compton, Ph. D., geriatric neuropsychologist.
  • March 23 — Dementia: What It Means and What to Do About It, Mark Pippenger, M.D., behavioral neurologist
  • April 6 — When Is It Time to Stop Driving?, Denise Compton, Ph.D.
  • April 20 — Emergency Preparedness for Families Facing Dementia, Donna LeBlanc, M.S.N., A.P.R.N.
  • May 4 — Understanding and Living with Lewy Body Disease, Mark Pippenger, M.D.
  • May 18 — Managing Sundowning, Wandering and Sleep Problems, Lou Ann Eads, M.D., geriatric psychiatrist

Other “Lunch and Learn” lecture topics through the summer include: legal planning for families facing dementia; dealing with anxiety, agitation and anger; financial planning for families facing dementia; handling problems with eating, toileting and bathing; understanding and living with other forms of dementia; dementia and drugs and community resources.

 

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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