 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| A groundbreaking documentary produced by Memory Bridge that reveals the largely unrecognized capacity of people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias to maintain emotionally meaningful relationships. Airing on public television stations beginning in fall 2007. |
      |
 |
 |
 |
One-Day Validation training with Naomi Feil and keynote presentation with Michael on August 12 - 14 at the Embassy Suites Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio. For more information about the event visit www.compassionate-touch.org/naomi
Participants in this three-day, guided journey in connecting with those with dementia will explore what it means, and does not mean, for a person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and not merely from the outside-in, the bio-medical perspective, but from the inside-out, from within the lifeworld of a person living with dementia. Developed by the Memory Bridge Foundation, this experience-based, empathy-centered workshop pairs each participant with a person in hospice diagnosed with irreversible dementia--a Buddy. Volunteers and Buddies will meet two times in person over the three days of training. Combined with the supported companionship with hospice clients will be a variety of other learning experiences--presentation-based, creative, reflective, peer-to-peer dialogue, case study, and sharing circles.
Michael is presenting There Is a Bridge: Healing the Dis-ease of Alzheimer's at this year's Life Services Network Annual Meeting to be held in Chicago, Illinois at Navy Pier. Michael's presentation will define the crucial differences between the neurogenerative disease called Alzheimer's and the intersubjective experience of emotional and social isolation that is the dis-ease of Alzheimer's. Rooted in a vision that challenges the cliched and fear-mongering marketing scripts through which Alzheimer's is typically framed for public consumption, Michael's presentation explores the intra- and interpersonal lifeworlds of our collective humanity and points the way to meaningful action that we can take now to begin healing the suffering associated with Alzheimer's.
This study evaluated the Memory Bridge Initiative (MBI), an educational, experiential program pairing high school students with older adults who have dementia. A qualitative, single group design with baseline and follow-up measures examined whether or not students would have a positive learning experience while gaining newfound appreciation and understanding of older adults with dementia. Findings showed that students' perceptions of older adults and of Alzheimer's disease became more optimistic and hopeful after participation in MBI. Students also favorably described their learning experience and recommended improvements for future programs. This evaluation informs future service-learning and dementia-care programs with results supporting wider dissemination of the Memory Bridge Initiative. Study available through Taylor & Francis Online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03601271003608860
WTTB radio host Cindy Bryant interviewed Michael prior to his presentation for Treasure Coast Hospice's Treasuring Life Speaker Series on January 13, 2011. In this interview Michael explains the difference between Alzheimer's disease and the dis-ease of Alzheimer's, and why understanding this difference can be the beginning of the most important spiritual journey of our lives. Click "read more" to hear the interview.
The Memory Bridge Initiative was featured on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on April 14, 2010.
To read the Tribune article, click here for the online version.
The “I Have a Dream” Foundation is partnering with Memory Bridge to launch Dreamers and Mockingbirds, a 12-week after school, service-learning and literacy-enrichment program based on the Memory Bridge Initiative. The Dreamers participating in Dreamers and Mockingbirds will read and explore To Kill a Mockingbird individually and as a class. Dreamers will also read parts of the novel to their Buddies (the elders with dementia participating in the program with the Dreamers), both in one-on-one and group contexts.
Michael Verde will be presenting There Is a Bridge at the 2010 Florida Hospice & Palliative Care conference on May 20 & 21 in Orlando Florida. Michael's presentation explores those facets of personal identity that Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia can not extinguish.
John Kotre, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, is the author of "White Gloves", a book which introduces the idea of autobiographical memory, which he describes as "the people, places, objects, events, and feelings that go into the story of your life."
Michael Verde was interviewed on Aging Matters, a radio program that deals with issues affecting seniors and their families.
Anne Basting, Director of the UWM Center on Age & Community, has written a book entitled Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia that emphasizes the importance of activites that focus on the present when caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
