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Fourth Annual ‘Your Brain Matters’ Luncheon
November 8, 2017 @ 11:00 am PST
The Alzheimer’s Women’s Initiative, Santa Barbara County, led by co-chair Katina Etsell and co-chair and co-founder Gerd Jordano of the Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter, presents the Fourth Annual ‘Your Brain Matters’ Luncheon at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort on Wednesday, November 8, 2017, at 11 a.m. Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree is the Honorary Chair for the fundraising event honoring Patti Davis, who is also the Keynote Speaker, with the Alzheimer’s Leadership Award. Roberta Brinton, Ph.D. will be featured as the scientific speaker, presenting on the link between estrogen and glucose on the aging female brain and regenerative therapeutics.
More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease – two thirds of who are women. In her early sixties, a woman is about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s over the course of her lifetime than she is likely to develop breast cancer. The volunteer-led Alzheimer’s Women’s Initiative of the Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter is driven by influential women who bring community leaders together to support the Alzheimer’s Association.
“In Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties, more than 40,000 people are living with Alzheimer’s,” said Rhonda Spiegel, CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter. “Women are disproportionately affected by the disease.”
The luncheon will feature exciting raffle prizes, including a three-night stay at a Seacliff oceanfront beach house, a stay at the brand new Hotel Californian, a stay at the Quail Lodge in Carmel and more. Art created by men and women living with Alzheimer’s disease will also be available for donation. The program, “Memories in the Making,” dispels the common misconception that individuals with dementia are lost forever. By giving them the opportunity to express themselves through art, we learn that they are still here.
The luncheon will also include a special tribute to Glen Campbell. Glen passed away this past August after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
For tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please visit act.alz.org/awisb.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Women
Alzheimer’s is a global epidemic. Worldwide, an estimated 44 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, and is the only cause of death among the top 10 in America that cannot be cured or prevented. A woman’s estimated lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer’s at age 65 is one in six. It’s the fifth-leading cause of death in California and fourth in Santa Barbara County.
Not only are women more likely to have Alzheimer’s, they are also more likely to be caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s. More than three in five unpaid Alzheimer’s caregivers are women. Women are also two-and-a-half times more likely to provide 24-hour care for someone with Alzheimer’s. Nearly 19 percent of women Alzheimer’s caregivers had to quit work either to become a caregiver or because their caregiving duties became too burdensome.
Patti Davis (left) and Roberta Brinton (right)
About Patti Davis
The daughter of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, Patti Davis is the author of eleven books, both non-fiction and fiction. This includes The Long Goodbye, which she wrote following her father’s Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis in 1994, and published in 2004. In 2011, Patti started “Beyond Alzheimer’s,” a support group for caregivers and family members whose loved ones have dementia.
About Roberta Brinton, Ph.D.
Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D., is the inaugural Director for the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, Professor of Pharmacology, Neurology and Psychology and a member of the Evelyn McKnight Brain Institute, at the University of Arizona. She is also Professor of Neurology at the University of Southern California. Dr. Brinton is a leading neuroscientist in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, the aging female brain and regenerative therapeutics. Her research has focused on the mechanisms by which the aging brain develops late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
About the Alzheimer’s Women’s Initiative
Inspired and influenced by The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s, a group of key women leaders and visionaries came together to use their amazing brains to help wipe out Alzheimer’s disease. With women at the epicenter of the Alzheimer’s crisis, these women were charged, inspired, and moved to form the Alzheimer’s Women Initiative (AWI), a volunteer driven community group, which aims to educate families, associates and neighbors on the economic and human impact of Alzheimer’s, honor those who selflessly provide care for people affected by Alzheimer’s, expand the resources available to the local families who are living with Alzheimer’s each and every day, and advocate for more federal research dollars to find a way to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s disease.
About the Alzheimer’s Association
The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. It is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research. The Association’s mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Association California Central Chapter is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with regional offices located in San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Kern Counties. Visit www.alz.org/CACentral or call 805.892.4259.