Pain to Purpose: Shining the Light

When Alzheimer’s interrupted our lives, I was petrified. I remember being in my home in Charlotte weeping. My mom was scared and trying to ignore very early warning signs, and I was scared trying not to ignore them. At that time in 2010 I knew nothing. Perhaps my healthcare background gave me a slight edge in some things, but when it came to Alzheimer’s I had no idea what to expect. What I only shared with a few close friends and surrogates during the next four years was how powerless I felt. During that time, it was a tug of war between fear, fighting, and learning. One of the things that stayed with me eleven years until mom died was how hard it was to learn; how hard it was to fight systems to fight for her; how hard it was being alone doing it.

Somewhere around year five upon my return home in 2014 I remember being in such a place of painful transition and going into a deep period of prayer and fasting. On day 5 or 6 of my fast God dropped a vision so powerful in my heart it nearly knocked me down off my feet. My hands and fingers could not write it fast enough. Part of that vision was to build a summit at the highest caliber, with education and empowerment that could educate the community.

ALZHEIMER'S EEE SPOTLIGHT

I knew from experience, nurses were the backbone of healthcare, caregivers were the backbone of Alzheimer’s care, faith leaders could become a pathway to change, and the community at large could change the trajectory of economics around the disease.

As our registration continues with Alzheimer’s EEE Virtual Educational and Empowerment Summit Experience we are thrilled to announce two extraordinary researchers and presenters – Dr Fayron Epps and Dr Glenna Brewster from @inemory_nursing@emoryuniversity will be presenting on Saturday April 16th of EEE. Both are breaking ground on all things Alzheimer’s Awareness and all things Alzheimer’s treatment, care, and caregiving as it relates to the African American Community in a multiplicity of key areas.

Dr Fayron Epps Assistant Professor, tenure track | PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr Epps joined the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in August 2019. She has over 20 years of nursing experience. Her career goal as a nurse scholar is to promote the quality of life for families affected by dementia through research, education, and service. Her program of research involves evidence-based practices for promoting quality of life for African Americans with dementia and their family caregivers. She is particularly interested in exploring ways religious activities and spiritual connectedness can promote meaningful engagement among persons with dementia. Dr. Epps oversees several faith-based and psycho-education research projects, such as "Faith-HAT", "Dementia-Friendly Online Worship”, and "Caregiving while Black"

Dr Brewster is an Assistant Professor, tenure track, at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and a Family Nurse Practitioner in the Integrated Memory Care Clinic.

She graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor and Master’s of Science in Nursing, a Masters of Arts in Gerontology, and a Ph.D. in Nursing Science.

Her program of research aims to understand sleep disturbance experienced by persons living with cognitive impairment and their caregivers, develop behavioral interventions to address the identified sleep disturbance, and examine the impact of these sleep interventions on psychological, cognitive, and physiological outcomes.

HC3D's Alzheimer's EEE Virtual Educational & Empowerment Summit in Partnership with Tulane University Neuroscience - Healthy Brain & Aging Initiative, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane Goldring Center and School of Culinary Medicine.

April 15-16, 2022 (This is a 100% virtual conference)