National dementia patient advocates to speak in Dayton

National leaders in aging, Loretta Woodward Veney, left, and Sandy Markwood, right, will visit Dayton this week. CONTRIBUTED

National leaders in aging, Loretta Woodward Veney, left, and Sandy Markwood, right, will visit Dayton this week. CONTRIBUTED

National leaders in dementia education and patient advocacy will speak in Dayton this week.

The speakers will be part of a two-day forum hosted at Thursday and Friday at Sinclair Community College Ponitz Center.

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Sandy Markwood, co-chair of Dementia Friendly America and CEO of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, will speak 5 p.m. Thursday about how communities can change the way they think, act, and talk about dementia “to help better affirm the lives of those living with the disease,” according to an announcement from event staff.

On Friday, the keynote speaker at the a day-long symposium will be Loretta Woodward Veney, who after learning that her mother had dementia, began documenting the details of doctor visits, and recording people, places, and things as a substitute for her mom’s lost memory. She turned these documents and her memories of her mother into the book Being My Mom’s Mom.

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Laura Thornhill, who does public policy work for the Alzheimer’s Association in Washington, D.C., will also hold a session on new Medicare regulations regarding dementia care.

For more information and to register, click here.

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