Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati

Xenia Ivanova, Summer 2020

I chose Alzheimer's Association as my UHP site because I spent a few years caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and because I have an interest in geriatrics. Alzheimer's Association is a great resource for anyone who is caring for someone with dementia or knows someone with dementia and I didn't fully understand how much the Association did until I started volunteering there. I was involved a lot with educational programs over the summer which switched from in-person to virtual over COVID. I attended all the webinars on dementia and learned a lot more about dementia than we did in first year of medical school. I learned more practical things such as how to communicate with a person with dementia and their caregiver, how to address behaviors in dementia and how to detect medical issues in people with dementia who might not be able to remember them or communicate them. I also learned of manageable risk factors for dementia and how to do testing for dementia which would come in handy if I end up in primary care. My time at Alzheimer's Association made me consider more career options where I would be working mainly with persons with dementia, and I would highly recommend this site to anyone who is interested in geriatrics, primary care or anyone who knows someone with dementia.