Naperville Caregiver Urges Participation in National Memory Screening Day

National Memory Screening Day, November 16, is an annual initiative of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America in which qualified health care professionals at local sites nationwide provide free, confidential memory screenings and educational materials to the public.

Screening sites include Alzheimer's agencies, long-term care facilities, clinicians' offices, senior centers, pharmacies and other community venues. The screening results do not represent a diagnosis; individuals with below-normal scores or those who still have concerns are encouraged to pursue further medical evaluation.

“Sixty-five percent of all those with Alzheimer's are women. Sixty percent of caregivers for persons with Alzheimer's are women. That's 3.3 million American women with Alzheimer's and another 6.7 million women providing care for a friend or loved one. If you consider by mid-century that as many as 8 million women will have Alzheimer's disease, it's clear a huge Alzheimer tsunami is coming at this nation's women,” according to Richard Ueberfluss, a certified physical therapist and president of Assisting Hands Chicago, which provides in-home caregivers for Alzheimer's patients. For more information, visit assistinghandschicago.com.