2:00 p.m. Panel Participants:
Philip B. Marshall, M.D., Behavioral Health Services:
Dr. Marshall will address pharmaceutical interventions to manage the symptoms of dementia that impact families to include hallucinations, paranoia, delusional behavior, aggression, and psychosis.
Dawn Johns, Elder Care Manager, Journey Life Care
Kathy Siggins-Brooks
Ms. Siggins-Brooks will describe her personal challenges in caring for her husband, who passed away from young-onset Alzheimer’s disease in January, 1999. .
David Wingate, Elder Law Attorney
Mr. David Wingate will share his work of helping seniors with legal needs through a Life Care Planning service and discuss a senior centered planning approach to the aging process and health care issues to ensure quality of life. .
Carol Wynne, Early Stage Program Coordinator, Alzheimer’s Association
Ms. Wynne, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, will share information about early-stage programs that encourage linkage, support for people newly diagnosed with dementia, and structures that support healthy living with the disease. .
Following the panel, attendees will enjoy the inspirational singing and piano accompanist provided by Ms. Ann Davis. Copies of her CD titled, In Spirit, will be available at the performance.
3:00 p.m. Screening of The Savages
The Alzheimer’s Association recognizes the financial burden that caregivers face when there is dementia in their families. If ticket prices are prohibitive for a caregiver to attend, the Alzheimer’s Association has limited funds available for scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call the Alzheimer’s Association at 301.696.0315 for more information.
The Savages received its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. A pair of siblings are forced to set aside their discomfort with one another for the sake of their father in this low-key comedy drama from writer/director Tamara Jenkins. Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) is a struggling playwright living in New York City who works a day job to support herself and can't shake the feeling that she's failed as an artist. Wendy isn't especially happy about her love life either, gaining little self-esteem from her on-and-off affair with oversexed, married neighbor Larry (Peter Friedman). Wendy's anxieties about her writing career are intensified by the success of her brother, Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who teaches theater history at a college in Buffalo, NY, and has published a number of books.
While Jon's life seems fine on the surface, a case of writer's block has stalled work on his latest project, and he's deeply upset that his girlfriend is soon to leave the United States to return to her native Poland. Wendy and Jon don't get along and prefer not to see one another, but an unfortunate circumstance brings them together -- their father, Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco). Elderly Lenny has began showing signs of dementia, and shortly after he takes to smearing his feces on the walls of his Arizona home, his ailing long-term girlfriend suddenly dies. Wendy and Jon have little choice but to fly to Arizona and see what can be done for Lenny, but their long-simmering animosity makes it hard for them to deal with the realities of Lenny's condition.
