Dementia Friends Massachusetts is proud to present this years Dementia Symposium. This year's theme will be on brain health for all. We will explore current evidence-based tips for brain health, how these link to the structural and social determinants of health, and what research and experience tell us about continuing to live well with a dementia diagnosis. Hear from Dementia Friends Community Partners, advocates living with dementia, researchers and public health experts! 

We hope you'll join us for a chance to learn more about the ways we can better think, act, and talk about dementia.

Register Here

Speakers and topics
 

Opening Welcome

• Nora Moreno Cargie, President of the Point32Health Foundation and Vice President of Corporate Citizenship for Point32Health
• Gail Schulman, CEO, JF&CS

The State of Brain Health Research 

• Yakeel Quiroz, Ph.D., Director, MGH Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program; Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
• Susan Antkowiak, Vice President Programs & Services, Alzheimer's Association MA/NH Chapter

Social and Structural Determinants of Brain Health: Research and Community Experience

• Kun Chang, MSW, LCSW, Associate Director, Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center; Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner, focusing on Chinese communities in Greater Boston.
• Andrea Dettorre, Project Manager, Boston BOLD Project at the Boston Public Health Commission
• Alana Dundon, Psychologist, Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on Brazilian Portuguese communities in the Boston Metro West area.
• Arnetta E. Ferguson, Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on Black/African American and Caribbean communities in Boston. 
• Doris Harris, Ph.D., CEO, Harris Resources; Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner, focusing on Black/African American communities in the Springfield area.
• Lisa Krinsky, MSW, LICSW, Director, LGBTQIA+ Aging Project, Fenway Health; Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner, focusing on LGBTQIA+ communities in Massachusetts.
• Tirsa Ramirez, Latino Health Insurance Program, Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on Spanish-speaking communities in the Boston Metro West area.
• Reverend Dr. Sandy Range, M.Ed., M.Ms., Ph.D., Trauma Specialist and Certified Hypnotherapist. Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on American Indian and other Communities of Color in the Randolph area. 
• Kathy Service, RN/NP, Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on people with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and service providers who work with them. 
• Judith Thermidor, Director, East Boston Council on Aging; Dementia Friends Massachusetts Champion and Community Partner focusing on Haitian Creole and Spanish-speaking communities in Boston. 

Living well with dementia: Lessons from research and personal experience 

• Alice Bailey, Dementia Advocate, Springfield, Massachusetts
• Miriam Owens, Dementia Advocate, Richmond, Virginia

Symposium Facilitator

• Beth Soltzberg, MSW, LICSW, MBA, Director, Alzheimer's/Related Disorders Family Support Program, Jewish Family & Children's Service of Greater Boston; Lead, Dementia Friends Massachusetts.