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By Charles Fuschillo
Long Island has long been a home to innovation and progress, from Charles Lindbergh making the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris to the building of iconic aircraft and the Lunar Module at Grumman. In 2002, Long Island was the home to another step forward in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, when a Port Washington caregiver founded the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA). That progress has continued for more than 20 years.
Bert Brodsky created AFA to be a place to turn when Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia-related illness enters their lives; a place which did not exist when his own mother lived with Alzheimer’s. Since opening its doors, AFA continues to make a difference for families in their time of need, with Long Island playing a central role.
Each day, AFA provides support, services, and education to individuals, families, and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s disease, here on Long Island and across the country. The AFA Helpline, staffed entirely by licensed social workers specifically trained in dementia care, delivers guidance, assistance, and support seven days a week through phone (866-232-8484), text message (646-586-5283), and web chat (alzfdn.org).
Thousands of Long Islanders received free, confidential memory screenings through AFA’s National Memory Screening Program. These quick, noninvasive, confidential screenings, which consist of a series of questions and tasks that test cognitive functions, are an important early detection tool to uncover a potential memory problem and should be part of everyone’s health and wellness routine. Working with local leaders and organizations, AFA has held free screening programs across Long Island, with no minimum age or insurance prerequisites (learn more about getting a free memory screening by contacting AFA).
America’s first-ever Respite Care Relief Park opened in Lindenhurst in 2017 through a collaboration with AFA and the Town of Babylon. Designed to be an educational and recreational resource, Respite Care Relief Parks give caregivers a dementia-friendly place where they can feel comfortable bringing someone with dementia to socialize and enjoy a peaceful, outdoor setting, all while learning about services that can help. The park serves as AFA’s model for sites across the country, including one which opened at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow last May through a collaboration between AFA and Nassau County.
Along with delivering help to families today, AFA is providing hope for tomorrow by investing in Alzheimer’s research right here on Long Island. Cutting-edge research projects at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, and Stony Brook University in Stony Brook are working to advance the science and bring us closer to finding new treatments and a cure, and AFA is supporting their work.
In the near future, services available for Long Islanders with dementia will grow significantly with the opening of AFA’s new Long Island Education an
d Resource Center in Amityville, readily accessible to residents of Suffolk and Nassau Counties. From therapeutic, educational, and training programs to support groups and memory screening services, the center will provide essential services for the estimated 60,000 Long Island families currently affected by Alzheimer’s disease, as well as valuable training for the Long Island workforce that serves them.
If Alzheimer’s or another dementia-related illness is in your family’s life, AFA is here to help. Reach out to our Helpline seven days a week at 866-232-8484, or visit our website, www.alzfdn.org, to learn more about the services available to help you. If you’d like to support our work by making a tax-deductible donation, visit www.alzfdn.org/donate.