On September 30, the Dementia Awareness Club (DAC) held a viewing of the film, "Alive Inside: Music and Memory". About 50 people attended the viewing, including students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community.
This stirring documentary follows social worker Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, as he fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music's ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it. An uplifting cinematic exploration of music and the mind, Alive Inside's inspirational and emotional story left audiences humming, clapping and cheering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.
Following the film, a discussion panel shared their experiences related to dementia with the audience and fielded questions. The panel included Dr. Ed Rosenberg, a professor who teaches several courses related to aging in the Dept. of Sociology; Dr. Christine Leist, an associate professor of Music Therapy in the Hayes School of Music; two members of a local peer support group for people living with dementia; and, a person from a local caregiver support group whose wife has dementia. If you were unable to attend on Sep. 30, the film can be checked out at the AppState library and will soon be available to check out at the Appalachian Regional Library.
The DAC aims to build awareness in our community to help educate people and reduce the stigma of having a diagnosis of dementia. If you would like to help, consider:
attending our upcoming meetings and events (find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/DACAppState/ or on AppSync; email to dementiaclub@gmail.com);
making a donation to the club to support our efforts,
making a donation to support research in dementia, or
volunteering at a local residential facility or senior center.
