Genesis Health Project to Host a Lunch n’ Learn Seminar for Individuals Caring for People with Memory Loss or Dementia
February 19, 2020
The Genesis Health Project’s African American Dementia Caregiver Support Program will host a Lunch n’ Learn Seminar on Saturday, March 7, 2020 for people caring for others with memory loss or dementia. The purpose of the seminar is to teach strategies for comforting and connecting with people affected by memory loss or dementia, and recognizing and effectively responding to behavioral changes. Senior Home Care & Alzheimer’s Solutions will provide the instruction.
The Lunch n’ Learn will take place at Rachel’s Restaurant in the Sheraton Syracuse Hotel at 801 University Avenue, from 11am to 2pm.
There is no fee to attend the luncheon, and parking is free. Individuals who plan to join us should call 315-876-2338 to register for the event.
If you are uncomfortable leaving the person you care for at home alone, we will pay a trained companion to stay with them while you attend the seminar. If you would like this free service, which we call respite, please contact us no later than February 28th to make arrangements.
We hope you will join us.
Genesis Health Project to Host a Resource Information Dinner for Individuals Caring for People with Memory Loss or Dementia
February 19, 2020
The Genesis Health Project’s African American Dementia Caregiver Support Program will host a Resource Information Dinner on Monday, March 16, 2020 for people caring for others with memory loss or dementia. The purpose of the dinner is to provide information about resources available for older adults through the Onondaga County Office for the Aging. KC Pearson, the Neighborhood Advisor from Syracuse Community Connections, will join us to share information and respond to questions.
The dinner will take place at Rachel’s Restaurant in the Sheraton Syracuse Hotel at 801 University Avenue, from 6-8pm.
There is no fee to attend the dinner, and parking is free. Individuals who plan to join us should call 315-876-2338 to register for the event.
If you are uncomfortable leaving the person you care for at home alone, we will pay a trained companion to stay with them while you attend the seminar. If you would like this free service, which we call respite, please contact us no later than February 28th to make arrangements.
We hope you will join us.
Genesis Health Project to Host Spring Celebration Social for People with Memory Loss or Dementia and the People Who Care For Them
February 19, 2020
The Genesis Health Project’s African American Dementia Caregiver Support Program will host a spring celebration social on Saturday, April 18, 2020 for people with memory loss or dementia and the people who care for them. The social will take place at the Dunbar Center, 1453 South State Street, in Syracuse, NY from 12-2 pm.
If you are caring for someone living with memory loss, Alzheimer’s or dementia, please bring them with you as you join us for our spring celebration social. Meet other individuals having similar experiences, while you enjoy a light lunch and work together to create a delightful spring flower arrangement for your Easter table.
We hope to see you there!
Individuals who plan to join us should call 315-876-2338 to register for the event
Genesis Health Project to Host Autumn Holiday Gala for People with Dementia and Their Caregivers
November 11, 2019
The Genesis Health Project’s African American Dementia Caregiver Support Program will host a holiday Gala on Saturday, November 23, 2019 for people with dementia and their family caregivers. The gala will take place at the Dunbar Center, 1453 South State Street, in Syracuse, NY from 12-2 pm.
If you are caring for someone living with memory loss, Alzheimer’s or dementia, please bring them with you as you join us for an Autumn holiday gala luncheon. Celebrate the upcoming holiday season and meet other folks having similar experiences, while you enjoy door prizes, lunch, and entertainment.
Please come prepared to share your favorite family holiday stories!
Individuals who plan to join us for the gala should call 315-876-2338 to register for the event
Genesis Health Project and Syracuse University College Of Law Provide Legal Support to Local Community
November 6, 2018
Earlier this year Mary Helen McNeal, Professor of Law and Director of the Elder and Health Law Clinic, and Falk public health professor, Luvenia Cowart, and Maria T. Brown, assistant research professor in Falk College’s School of Social Work and faculty affiliate at Syracuse University’s Aging Studies Institute, identified ways to connect experiential learning for law students with an unmet need in the community. Cowart is the co-founder of the Genesis Health Project that aims to reduce health disparities and promote healthy lifestyles among African Americans in Syracuse. The African American Dementia Caregiver Support Project’s 12-Week Healthy Living Program is a Genesis Project that promotes health and wellness, including education about dementia caregiving, nutrition and physical fitness. A two-part seminar series on advance directives was a natural fit for the Genesis Project.
“Advance planning for medical decisions and preferences is never an easy conversation to have with loved ones, but it is a necessary and responsible thing to do,” explains Cowart. “The students from the College of Law, under Professor McNeal’s leadership, filled a significant void within our community.”
Research estimates that only one in three Americans has an advance directive, a number that is substantially lower among communities of color, those of lower socio-economic status, and lower levels of education. This semester, College of Law students in McNeal’s Advance Directives in the Community course and Elder and Health Law Clinic gained hands-on experience educating local residents about the importance of planning for end-of-life care while helping them prepare advance directives in partnership with Falk College.
“Advance directives enable people to appoint a proxy to make decisions when they are no longer able to, and they lay out a person’s preferences for the care they want,” says McNeal. Providing general practice legal assistance for those aged 60 and over with low or moderate incomes, the Elder and Health Law Clinic offers students the opportunity to represent clients with faculty guidance and oversight.
Genesis Health Project Launches Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia Caregiver Support Program
September 9, 2016
A $500,000 grant from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) will fund programming to deliver Alzheimer’s Disease and caregiving support to the African American community in Syracuse —including respite care and connections to community resources—as part of the Genesis Health Project. This initiative, led by Syracuse University’s Falk College, is part of the NYSDOH’s Alzheimer’s Disease Program, which implemented a $25 million strategy in 2015 to support people with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias and their caregivers.
The goals of the African American Alzheimer’s Dementia Caregivers Support Program (AADCS) are to provide Alzheimer’s and dementia education to inner-city African Americans and increase use of available resources to diminish caregiver stress. The programs include educational seminars and cultural competency training for community-based partners. A 12-Week Healthy Living Program was launched August 13, encompassing Alzheimer’s Disease and nutrition education, exercise sessions and yoga and meditation.
Launched in 2004, the Genesis Project is part of a larger minority health initiative, in partnership with Falk College, corporate donors, government agencies and other regional partners. The multi-year, community-based initiative aims to reduce health disparities and to promote healthy lifestyles among African Americans. Targeting underserved populations in the area through a network of health advocate volunteers at local churches, the Genesis Project has focused on health issues such as diabetes prevention and management, obesity, and prostate and breast cancer awareness and education in addition to its newest focus on Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia caregiving.
Under the leadership of Falk College public health professor Luvenia Cowart, Ed.D., R.N., co-founder of the Genesis Project, collaborating with co-investigator Maria T. Brown, L.M.S.W., Ph.D., an assistant research professor at Syracuse University’s Aging Studies Institute, the project will implement multiple strategies, including:
- creating opportunities for partner organizations to offer education, assessments, referrals;
- offering funding to support caregivers’ involvement in GHP;
- supporting community members as they explore and consider available resources and services, and; provide self-care and stress management education for caregivers in African American faith-based communities.
Dr. Cowart’s academic interests are focused on public health and health education among minorities, community partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations, health disparities and mental health issues. Dr. Brown is a social gerontologist who studies later-life experiences of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, women, and racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities.