Free Family Caregiver Workshop to be held June 28

By Ben Boulden

The workshop will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training at 2813 Forest Home Road in Jonesboro. For more information or to register, please call 870-207-7600 or email vwfielder@uams.edu.

The workshop will present an overview of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and provide caregiving tips that maintain respect, dignity and quality of life for the person living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Information will also be presented on nutrition, behavior, communication techniques and activities.

This workshop is sponsored by the UAMS Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC), the Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program. The collaborative improves the quality of care for older adults through education by offering programs for health professionals, first responders, family caregivers and direct care workers.

The UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging serves the needs of an aging generation with the highest standards of research and care. It was established through a 1997 gift of $28.8 million from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and expanded through a 2009 foundation gift of $33.4 million. Within the institute is the Arkansas Aging Initiative (AAI), created from part of Arkansas’ share of the Master Tobacco Settlement to improve the health of older Arkansans through interdisciplinary clinical care and innovative education programs, and to influence state and national health policy. The AAI created seven Centers on Aging throughout the state to provide senior adults access to quality care within a 60-mile drive from their homes. These centers offer the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program so older adults might have more opportunities to remain at home.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.