New Dementia Guide Available

A new publication most senors would be wise to get their hands on is the 2015 Dementia Resource Guide that was put out by the Alabama Department of Senior Services, and was recently the subject of one of Eastdale Estates' weekly Who's Lookin' Out for You? Series held each Tuesday morning there.

Mrs. Susan Segrest, Executive Director of the Central Alabama Aging Consortium, spent a Tuesday morning last month at the senior retirement facility explaining the various sections of the publication, which is “to point [seniors] in the right direction about [various elements] related to dementia,” and to answer questions that may arise in the thoughts of senior citizens, and those with close association with seniors. The word itself, dementia, has a Latin origin relating to madness, and even relates to the French word d'emence, which had a similar association.

Numbers wise, “one in seven Americans 71 years of age or older has some form of dementia, according to the National Institute of Health, which seems to be just cause for publishing such a guide; and for that the Alabama Department of Senior Services should be commended.

The purpose of this guide, in its own words, “is to point you in the right direction about specific topics related to dementia,” and this it does with a great degree of excellence.

Starting right off, it provides the reader with a variety of contact numbers from which the general public might glean more specifics on facts related to the subject.

Then it goes on to acquaint the reader with terms related to the subject, along with a definition of dementia, its various types, and a list of the types of healthcare providers one might wish to contact for further advice and information.

One could wax on with regard to the content of this cornucopia of useful information, but the best advice is to avail oneself with a copy.

And how, one may ask, might this be done?

One could contact the Central Alabama Aging Consortium at 818 South Perry Street in Montgomery, and ask for one; or one could go all the way to the top and visit Senior Services Commissioner Neal Morrison at the RSA Tower on 201 Monroe Street in Montgomery.

Or, one could call on Charlie Mulcahy, the amiable sales leader at Eastdale Estates, the salamander-shaped, three story senior retirement facility at 5801 Eastdale Drive in Montgomery. He might even be persuaded to provide a tour of the place.

In sum, if ever there was an all-inclusive publication on a specific subject of great concern to all of us, the Dementia Guide is it.

You'll not be sorry for having availed yourself of a copy.

Interpretation Of A Teacher

With another school year underway, one may wonder: How should one classify a teacher?

According to the famous 18th Century German author and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his work: Effective Affinities, this is one way:

“A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects classified with name and form.” That's how the old folks think of a teacher.