Transforming Memory Care

Through education, collaboration, and support

After my husband’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the DCC support group helped me cope with my new responsibilities and accept the uncertainty of what’s to come."

-Janet Hookailo, care partner

About the Dementia Care Collaborative

The Dementia Care Collaborative was created to educate and support patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and the community. Dedicated team members offer opportunities for learning and connecting across the hospital and into the community at large. We are here to teach new ways of understanding dementia, how to best communicate and partner with those with dementia and offer support and guidance for caregivers to feel empowered to foster their own wellbeing and resilience.

The Dementia Care Collaborative is part of the MGH Division of Palliative Care & Geriatric Medicine and is an umbrella for the Dementia Caregiver Support Program and the Memory Care Program.

The Dementia Care Collaborative has been funded by the generosity of supporting individuals and foundations including the Jack Satter Foundation and The Bresky Foundation since its inception in 2017. Please give today to support our mission to transform memory care.

Learn More

Conversations With Caregivers

Support Amidst the Uncertainty: How Palliative Care and Hospice can Help Across the Trajectory of Dementia with Mark Stoltenberg, MD, MA

November 19, 2024 5:30- 7:00pm EST

The trajectory of illness that a person living with dementia will follow is often long and winding. Where along that trajectory can palliative care offer support and guidance? How does palliative care differ from hospice? And just what is hospice now that you mentioned it? This session will review when and how palliative care and hospice services can support patients and their families.

Mark Stoltenberg, MD, MPH, MA is a palliative care physician at MGH and Harvard Medical School where he serves as the medical director for the MGB home-based palliative care program and the co-director of the MGH global palliative care program. Dr. Stoltenberg’s work focuses on innovative and collaborative methods of responding to the suffering of the most vulnerable, both locally and globally. He has led palliative care projects across the Caribbean, East Africa and Latin America, worked as an international consultant for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) and currently leads a sub-group for the World Health Organization (WHO) Palliative Care working group.

Join us Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 5:30 – 7:00pm EST via Zoom.

Click here to RSVPVIEW ALL OUR CONVERSATIONS

Mark Stoltenberg, MD, MA

 

Supported by the Center for Women, Wellness & Wealth, Inspired by Berkshire Bank; the Bresky Foundation and the Satter Foundation.

Health and Resiliency

Taking Refuge in Qigong with Ellen DeGenova

November 5, 2024 5:30-6:30pm EST

Qigong is often called the “Mother of Tai Chi.” It is a restorative and energizing practice that dates back thousands of years. Through gentle and highly adaptable movements, we will begin to discover how to cultivate and balance our vital life force (qi). Snagged places, be they mental or physical, slowly become unsnagged and dormant areas become more alive. A Qigong practice can help create a calm, nurturing refuge as we ride the ups and downs of caregiving. We learn how to elicit the innate intelligence of qi that is indeed our birthright. All are welcome to explore and play! No experience necessary.

As a former caregiver to a loved one with dementia, Ellen knows firsthand the challenges and rewards of the caregiving life. She is a certified graduate of the Tree of
Life Tai Chi Center’s Teacher Training Program where she is an assistant instructor. She also teaches for East End House, Cambridge Plays, and the Harvard Center for Wellness. Past teaching engagements include the MGH Parkinson’s Tai Chi and Speaker Series, Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, Harvard Medical School, and other clients in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. Her approach to teaching is informed by 35 years of meditation practice. Nothing makes her happier than to help others find peace of mind- body and to revitalize through the subtle power of Qigong and Tai Chi. For more info, visit: www.ellendtaichi.com.

Join us Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 5:30 – 6:30pm EST via Zoom.

Click here to RSVP

Ellen DeGenova

 

 

Latest News

Click here for information on the latest news about the Dementia Care Collaborative, dementia care at Mass General Hospital,
advances in research, health care policy, and tips for living well with dementia.

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