“The Dementia Institute is interested in improving dementia wellbeing in the broader West Michigan area.”
Curt Gritters is Director at the institute. He says the organization has been offering classes to caregivers of individuals with dementia for about a year.
“But we also offer support groups, one-on-one consultations, respite care, and much more.”
Gritters explains that dementia is the umbrella term for Alzheimer’s.
“Alzheimer’s is one of the most common causes of dementia, causes perhaps 70- 80% of the known cases of dementia. When we do memory screening, we’re screening for any type of dementia.”
Gritters says anyone experiencing memory loss may want to be screened for dementia.
“What quite a few folks don’t know is that dementia is really brain change that affects many or most of the senses, so vision and hearing and sensation is also affected, so that can have effects on how we walk, how we drive, how we interact with others.”
To that end, the institute is hosting a free memory screening and health fair on Thursday, November 14th, from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Woodlawn Ministry Center. The event is open to the public.
