Our Partners in Health presents Resources for Families Living with Dementia

Patients, families, caregivers, and community members are invited

(SHARON, MA) – Nationally-certified care manager and dementia specialist Joanne Peskowitz, LICSW, of Your Elder Experts, will take the podium at the Sharon Public Library (SPL) on Thursday, November 19, at 7:00 pm, to discuss Resources for Families Living with Dementia. The 90-minute interactive program, the second in a new community education series at the SPL on memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, will describe the non-denominational services provided by the Geriatric Care Management program of Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS), including crisis management, one-time consultations, assessments, and individualized plans of care through the transitions of aging.

Peskowitz, a medical social worker with more than 20 years of experience, also will discuss topics of day-to-day living that arise in the areas of senior service navigation, housing, medical information, and day-to-day living. In addition, the SPL will provide informational handouts from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) about living with and caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and memory loss and guides for finding help.

The November 19 presentation is part of the new Our Partners in Health (OPH) initiative organized by the SPL and funded by the NLM. Designed to inform patients, caregivers and community members about all aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and memory loss-related illnesses, the programs will also include programs on Caring for the Dementia/Alzheimer’s Patient at Home, Wellness in the Person with Dementia, and Understanding Behavior as Communication for People with Alzheimer’s disease. All presentations are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

With approximately 120,000 Massachusetts residents currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and a 25 percent increase expected over the next ten years, this degenerative brain disease and related illnesses are the sixth leading cause of death in the state. The OPH series was created by the SPL to enhance quality of life for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and provide high quality, sustainable health education information for the community and the caregivers that provide support.

Our Partners in Health is a collaborative comprising the Sharon Public Library in partnership with the Sharon Council on Aging, Epoch Senior Healthcare of Sharon, Hebrew Senior Life, Health & Social Services Consortium, Inc. (HESSCO), Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Orchard Cove, White Oak Cottages, and Your Elder Care Experts. For more information about Our Partners in Health and upcoming OPH programs, contact SPL Library Director Lee Ann Amend at 781.784.1578, ext. 1425, lamend@ocln.org, or visit www.sharonpubliclibrary.org.

This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. #HHS-N-276-2011-0001C with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

ABOUT THE SHARON PUBLIC LIBRARY

A member of the Old Colony Library Network (OCLN) with a collection in a wide range of traditional and digital formats, the Sharon Public Library (SPL) is committed to serving the informational, educational, cultural and recreational needs of all members of the Sharon community by providing access to a professional staff, a state-of-the-art facility and quality materials, programs and services.

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