PBS program, local forums focus on Alzheimer's disease
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Jan. 16, 2004
Mississippi Public Broadcasting plans to air a television documentary Wednesday to help people deal with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, irreversible disorder highlighted by memory loss.
About 4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease, an illness that makes it hard for people to remember things, can impair their judgment and can change their personality.
As a follow-up to the public TV program, the Alzheimer's Association has scheduled several community programs that will include local panel discussions about the disease.
Dobrosky said Shenk's book and the documentary also offer a degree of hope.
More information about the program and Alzheimer's disease can be found on the Public Broadcasting Service Web site, www.pbs.org, including an online chat with David Shenk scheduled for Thursday.
PBS is promoting "The Forgetting" as a program that will broaden awareness and understanding of Alzheimer's disease, as well as offer support to family members and care givers of Alzheimer's patients.
It also is expected to be a long-lasting tool through PBS rebroadcasts and as a resource on video, digital versatile disc and the Web for years to come.
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
The Mississippi Alzheimer's Association has scheduled the following
community programs that will include local panel discussions for each town.
Each program will be sponsored in part by the Alzheimer's Association and the Mississippi Department of Health Division of Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementia. For more information, call the Alzheimer's Association branch office at 483-4720.
Feb. 10: First Baptist Church in Quitman, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Additional sponsor is Watkins Memorial Hospital.
Feb. 17: Central United Methodist Church in Meridian, 1 p.m.-4 p.m..
Additional sponsors are Rush Foundation Hospital, Alliance Health Care, and Lauderdale County Mental Health.
March 3: Central Mississippi Residential Center in Newton, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Additional sponsors are Footprints Adult Day Center, and Sojourners Geriatric Psychiatric Unit.
Date and time to be announced: Alzheimer's Special Care Unit at Neshoba General Hospital in Philadelphia.
