Stockton Lecture on Challenges of Alzheimer's Care

The Stockton Center on Successful Aging’s next professional workshop in the First Wednesday series is designed to help professionals working with older adults.

“Neurocognitive Impairments:  Alzheimer’s from a Daughter’s Perspective” is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Health Center at Galloway, located at 66 West Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway Township.

The workshop will be presented by Norma S. Blecker, Ed.D., retired associate professor of Education in Special Education, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Prior to her work in higher education, Dr. Blecker spent 30 years in K-12 education as a teacher, child study team member and special education director. Dr. Blecker’s knowledge and experiences as a special educator aided her in the many challenges one faces as a daughter to an elderly parent having extreme chronic dementia.

Dr. Blecker’s mother recently passed away at the age of 95 from chronic dementia after suffering with the condition for more than 10 years. It is Dr. Blecker’s wish to pass on the knowledge gained from this experience to those working with families dealing with this condition.

This session will focus on Dr. Blecker’s insights and describe her experiences in caring for her mother who lived with Alzheimer’s for over a decade. She will also note several important parallels between Alzheimer’s and the developmental disabilities that she taught about during her teaching career. 

The objectives of the lecture are to identify the stages a client suffering from dementia/Alzheimer’s disease experiences, identify the stages family members experience as they travel the long journey with a family member having dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, and identify effective communication strategies to better meet the needs of both the client and his/her family members.

First Wednesday lectures are an ongoing series of continuing professional education seminars presented by the Stockton Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA) and the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at the Health Center at Galloway and on the Stockton campus.  The seminars, designed for professionals, para-professionals and other caregivers who work with older adults, are free of charge and offer continuing education credit for successful completion.

The Sept. 4 seminar will include a full breakfast. Upon completion, participants will receive 1 CE for Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Professional Counselors, and AOTA.

Online advanced registration is required by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 and can be accessed via the SCOSA website atwww.stockton.edu/scosa.  For seminar information, contact David Burdick at 609-652-4311. For registration assistance only call 609-652-4227. For updates and cancellation procedures visit the SCOSA website www.stockton.edu/scosa.

— News release from the Stockton Center on Successful Aging