Many people living with dementia don't feel valued or respected in their communities. But some activists in Michigan are working to change that by creating dementia-friendly communities. That can involve educating the general public on how to communicate better with people living with dementia. It can include creating more and better opportunities for people living with dementia to meaningfully engage with their communities. Or it can mean creating better social opportunities for people living with dementia.

As we conclude our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we took a look at the idea of dementia-friendly communities and how it's spreading across Michigan. We'll introduce you to Michigan leaders who are spearheading everything from educational sessions to plays about dementia in their efforts to make Michigan more dementia-friendly.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

Dementia Friendly Saline

Dementia Friends

Dementia Friends Michigan

Dementia Friends USA

Region IV Area Agency on Aging

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

One of the most frustrating and scary things about dementia is that we still know breathtakingly little about it. Research has revealed many clues – but not enough definitive answers – about what causes dementia and exactly how it acts upon the brain. And, of course, there's still no cure for any form of dementia. 

However, the medical community in Michigan, as in the rest of the U.S., is currently working at unprecedented speed to better understand how dementia works and treat it. Massive federal investment in dementia research is helping researchers investigate the pathology behind dementia, the most effective ways to reduce dementia symptoms, and even ways to potentially identify dementia risk before symptoms develop. As we continue our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we'll introduce you to Michigan medical professionals who are on the frontlines of this rapidly evolving field of study.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

Alzheimer's Association Greater Michigan chapter

Dr. Irving Vega's Vega Lab at Michigan State University

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center

Michigan Dementia Coalition

Trinity Health Memory Care

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

Becoming a caregiver or care partner to a person living with dementia is a challenging process. The role is thrust upon some and chosen by others. But in either case, there's a steep learning curve to understanding how best to support a person living with dementia. And caring for a loved one with dementia is often draining on time, finances, and emotional wellbeing.

However, numerous Michiganders have developed strategies to be better care partners to the people living with dementia in their lives. They've created organizations and networks to share that information with other care partners and their communities. And they're advocating for better social support for their work. As we continue our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we talked to dementia care partners and their advocates about care partners' challenges, their successes, and the resources and support they need to do their vital work.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

Alzheimer's Association Greater Michigan chapter

National Council of Dementia Minds

Universal Dementia

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

Dementia is challenging for everyone, but it takes a particularly heavy toll in communities of color. According to the Alzheimer's Association, older Black Americans are about twice as likely – and older Hispanic Americans about one and a half times as likely – to have dementia as their white counterparts.

Numerous leaders in Michigan are working to better understand the differences in how people of color experience dementia – and to address the inequities that contribute to that experience. As we continue our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we'll introduce you to people living with dementia who have experienced those inequities firsthand, as well as the researchers, activists, and health care professionals who are working to make dementia care more equitable and culturally competent.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

Alzheimer's Association Greater Michigan chapter

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center

Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer's Disease

National Council of Dementia Minds

Universal Dementia

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

Starting to recognize the symptoms of dementia in yourself can be scary enough in the first place. But for many people living with dementia, that process is compounded by doctors who seem unwilling or unable to make a diagnosis or offer adequate support when they do. The diagnosis process often takes years, and people living with dementia often feel abandoned to "get their affairs in order" once they finally do get diagnosed.

However, both people living with dementia and health care leaders in Michigan are working to speed up the diagnosis process and offer more support to newly diagnosed people. As we continue our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we'll introduce you to Michiganders living with dementia who have struggled to get a diagnosis – and those who are working to change the diagnosis process for the better.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

Alzheimer's Association Greater Michigan chapter

Lewy Body Dementia Association

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center

National Council of Dementia Minds

Region IV Area Agency on Aging

Trinity Health Memory Care

Universal Dementia

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

Nearly 6 million Americans have dementia, and one in three older adults dies with it, but dementia is still wildly misunderstood both by the general public and even the medical community. Here in Michigan, people living with dementia, those who care for them, and leaders in the nonprofit and health care sectors are working to change the conversation about dementia on both a local and national level. As we kick off our second season of Michigan's State of Health, we'll introduce you to some of the people who are leading this work in Michigan.

Want to learn more about the organizations and resources referenced in this episode? Check out the links below.

AARP Michigan

Alzheimer's Association Greater Michigan chapter

Dementia Action Alliance

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center

Michigan Dementia Coalition

Michigan Neuroscience Institute

National Council of Dementia Minds

You can read the State of Health feature story series here.

While Michigan's rural communities may not have faced the same heavy COVID-19 caseload as more densely populated urban areas, they've still struggled with unique challenges. Limited access to hospitals, limited transportation options, and lack of broadband internet have all affected rural Michiganders' ability to get the care they need. And all these challenges have been particularly acute for an often-overlooked segment of Michigan's rural population: migrant workers. While they're often invisible or looked down upon in the communities where they live and work, these migrant workers embody rural Michigan's experience with the pandemic.

On this week's episode we talked with Jesse Costilla, migrant program manager at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers (GLBHC); and Amanda Byler, migrant medical director and a nurse practitioner at GLBHC, about rural Michigan's health challenges and how they affect migrant workers. Join us as we discuss adapting during the pandemic to better address rural Michiganders' needs, and how we can strengthen health care for all residents of Michigan's rural communities in the long run.

Michigan's State of Health is a spinoff of the State of Health series of feature stories, which you can read at www.secondwavemedia.com, an Issue Media Group brand.

Michigan's State of Health is produced by Issue Media Group and made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

The isolation, uncertainty, and fear of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken a major toll on behavioral health. A survey conducted last June by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 40% of Americans surveyed reported struggling with mental health or substance use. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was three times higher than in the same period in 2019, and the prevalence of depression symptoms was four times higher.

However, the increased prevalence of behavioral health issues has had an unexpected upside: more people are talking about behavioral health than ever before. That increased attention has led to an increase in behavioral health care services during the pandemic. But there's still major unfulfilled demand for behavioral health care in Michigan. On this week's episode we talked with Kevin Fischer, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Michigan, about how COVID has helped raise awareness of the importance of behavioral health, the new solutions that have been introduced as a result, and how to support Michiganders through the long-term behavioral health issues COVID is likely to create.

Michigan's State of Health is a spinoff of the State of Health series of feature stories, which you can read at www.secondwavemedia.com, an Issue Media Group brand.

Michigan's State of Health is produced by Issue Media Group and made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on food insecurity and food systems. According to an estimate by Northwestern University, the pandemic more than doubled food insecurity in America, affecting nearly a quarter of all U.S. households last year. Here in Michigan, one and a quarter million people have received expanded emergency food assistance benefits during the pandemic. The pandemic opened many Michiganders' eyes to food supply chain issues they'd never considered before. And while the darkest days of COVID-prompted food insecurity may be behind us, major gaps in Michigan's food system remain.

On this week's episode, we sat down with Meghan McDermott, director of programs at Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, to discuss how we can draw from COVID's lessons to continue strengthening Michigan's food system in the long run. Meghan has helped spearhead multiple programs to address food insecurity in Northwest Michigan during the pandemic. We talked about the massive challenges COVID created for Northwest Michigan residents and farmers, and how we all can help to build a stronger, healthier food system in Michigan.

Michigan's State of Health is a spinoff of the State of Health series of feature stories, which you can read at www.secondwavemedia.com, an Issue Media Group brand.

Michigan's State of Health is produced by Issue Media Group and made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially frightening for older adults. The risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 increases with age for people over 50 years old, and people aged 85 and older are the most likely to to get very sick. COVID-19 has also exacerbated social isolation, which was already elevated among older adults long before the pandemic arrived. However, the pandemic has also shone a spotlight on the challenges older adults and their caregivers face, and as a result it's prompted the creation of many new programs to improve care for older adults.

On this week's episode, we sat down with Dr. Kathy Dollard and Meghan Dahl of MidMichigan Health to discuss Bridge to Belonging, a program that they created – and then adapted during the pandemic – to help combat social isolation among older adults. Join us as we discuss how the pandemic raised awareness of isolation and other issues older adults face, the transformative effects Bridge to Belonging has had on program participants, and how to continue supporting older adults beyond the pandemic.

Michigan's State of Health is a spinoff of the State of Health series of feature stories, which you can read at www.secondwavemedia.com, an Issue Media Group brand.

Michigan's State of Health is produced by Issue Media Group and made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.