Category: Newsletter

St. Luke's Home April Newsletter Dementia Expert Presents to Full House at St. Luke's Home Dr. Nicole Batsch, a noted dementia expert from King's College in London, member of the Alzheimer International Council and a consultant to the World Health Organization, presented to a large and fully engaged audience at St. Luke's Home on March 7. Dr. Batsch discussed the different types of memory-loss that can afflict Elders, and noted that the largest risk factor for memory-related disease is age. While there is no cure and individuals always continue to deteriorate, the goal is to improve the quality of daily life for those suffering from the disease. Diagnosis "takes six month to rule out all possibilities," according to Dr. Batsch, which include Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, Lewy Body dementia and Huntington's disease." Research dollars…

St. Luke's Home March Newsletter St. Luke's Hosts Forums on End-of-Life Planning  St.  Luke's CEO L'Don Sawyer (pictured above) triggered substantial interest in end-of life planning with her February 15th presentation at the UA Department of Psychology Annual Conference on Successful Aging. With more than 250 attendees, feedback has been strong, and St. Luke's response has been swift. The feedback reflects a fact that Sawyer noted in her presentation: While 60% of people believe that ensuring family members are not burdened with tough end-of-life decisions is "extremely important," a full 56% have not made known their end-of-life wishes. In response, St. Luke's has scheduled two public forums with plans to hold quarterly gatherings to address this vital  topic. Up first: March 20, 2 pm-3:30 pm:  Rev. Karen McDonald, M.Div., Health Education Manager, Interfaith Community Services, Conversations of a Lifetime …