Press Release

November 7, 2006
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu

NJISA Hosts Alzheimer’s Association Caregivers Conference on Nov. 11

STRATFORD — The New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging (NJISA) at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine will host the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter ’s annual Dementia Caregivers Conference on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the medical school’s Academic Center, on Laurel Road, in Stratford. This free program is designed specifically for family members caring for loved ones with dementia.

“The majority of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease rely on family caregivers,” said Christopher Kelly, director of Education, Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley Chapter. “Stress, anxiety and burnout are never far from the doorsteps of these family members who must constantly juggle caregiver responsibilities with the demands of working, maintaining a household and raising children.”

The Dementia Caregivers Conference features morning lectures by experts in dementia and a keynote address by Dr. Steven Dinsmore, a neurologist and the director of the Memory Assessment Program at NJISA. The afternoon workshops will cover innovative approaches to overcoming the challenges of caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The conference closes with a candlelight tribute to those who have lost their lives to dementia and to those currently struggling against the disease.

The Delaware Valley Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is the local chapter of the National Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, an alliance of family members and professionals dedicated to helping people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families through education, advocacy and support.

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.