In a talk rich in science, history, and characters, Dr. Jason Karlawish takes us inside laboratories, patients’ homes, caregivers’ support groups, progressive care communities, and his own practice at the Penn Memory Center. He will trace Alzheimer’s from its beginnings to its recognition as a crisis. While he offers an unambiguous account of decades of missed opportunities and our health care systems’ failures to take action, he tells the story of the biomedical breakthroughs that may allow Alzheimer’s to finally be prevented and treated by medicine and also presents an argument for how we can live with dementia: the ways patients can reclaim their autonomy and redefine their sense of self, how families can support their loved ones, and the innovative reforms we can make as a society that would give caregivers and patients better quality of life.
