Memory Care Conference at PCC Sept. 6

The 2nd Annual "Hold Onto Your Memory: Aging & Memory in the African American Community" conference is Saturday, Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 pm at Portland Community College Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth. 
With sponsorship by Volunteers of America Oregon, The Layton Aging and Alzheimer's disease Center at OHSU, and the Urban League of Portland, African American seniors and their family caregivers can learn about resources available to them and hear from speakers working in cutting-edge health programs that positively impact their communities.
This free conference has been organized by health and service providers, as well as key community members dedicated to addressing the concerns around health disparities of African American seniors and their families.  Transportation is free and available through RIDE Connection.
This year the conference will address both traditional and complementary approaches to dealing with aging and memory loss.  It will include workshops and resource information about the role complementary medicine, and how this approach can play a large role in the prevention and management of aging and memory loss, specifically for African Americans.
Keynote Speaker, Monique Williams, MD, from Washington University, St. Louis, will speak on "Quality and culturally responsive care for older adults."
Health workshops will allow participants to learn and take part in hands-on demonstrations in stress and depression, healthier soul-food cooking, acupuncture, and horticultural, aroma and massage therapies, with an emphasis on better ways to communicate with ones doctor. 
A free healthy soul food lunch will be served at noon with entertainment provided by local storyteller & drummer, Nyewesi Askari.
In the afternoon, seniors will be invited to share their own stories in a special multi-media, Community Memory Storytelling project- to be recorded by volunteer young adults from the N/NE Portland community.  Other events on-site will include free health screenings, sample computer games that stimulate the brain, and an introduction to "mindfulness" mediation practice, which helps reduce stress.  
For more information contact: Tiffany McKenna, Director of the Marie Smith Center at 503-802-0453.