Citrus County Scent Kit Coalition

08/06/2023

Do not delay! Registrations are rolling in for the October 30th Coping with Dementia Care Partner Conference in The Villages, sponsored by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. Admission is free, but seating is limited to 300. To reserve seats on-line, go to https://forms.gle/1PAgXpUyt2vS1mku9 Those unable to register on-line can call 352-422-3663 to register or acquire more information. You are welcome to bring your loved one living with dementia!

07/07/2023

07/05/2023

Over 800,000 Floridians are providing unpaid care to someone with dementia, and the number is growing, according to the Florida chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. The association says that approximately

06/29/2023

Join us at noon EDT of June 30 for this live learning opportunity as Debbie Selsavage speaks to the staff of LifeStream Behavioral Services about now the stress of dementia on families impacts mental health. To join the meeting live on line, click https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_YzUyNzE5MzgtMDI2MS00NjNmLWEyNWUtYTUzZWFlZTQzNDQ0%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252209634b29-fb4f-4db8-ac10-943ef209c6a9%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25228666d527-195d-425c-bbcf-a8ad828ce702%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=69e5de30-d3a4-4446-9975-7fdc0a13e565&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true

02/15/2023

Dementia Education Inc. disbands; donates funds to Citrus Baker Act facility

Named Citrus County’s 2022 Nonprofit of the Year only one month ago, Dementia Education Inc’s board of directors has voted to dissolve the corporation and donate its remaining assets to LifeStream Behavioral Services to be used to achieve higher standards of service and care at Citrus County’s future Baker Act facility.

One of Dementia Education’s leading campaigns, called the Better Baker Act Initiative, has advocated improved procedures and standards of care for seniors, and especially those with dementia, who have been caught up by the Baker Act. To this end, the nonprofit has published a book entitled “Creating a Better Baker Act” that has been widely distributed to the public and government leaders throughout Citrus County. This book contains four recommendations for transportation, care environment, training, and public education.

Explaining the corporation’s decision to disband, its president, Ed Youngblood, states, “Our board is composed of seniors, most of whom are from families who have had adverse experience with treatment of their loved ones through the Baker Act system. We have had great difficulty recruiting new directors with the experience and qualifications we think we need. Being named nonprofit of the year was a great honor we can never surpass, and we decided that now is our moment to set an example of commitment and support for a Better Baker Act facility in Citrus County.”

Dementia Education Inc. Treasurer Lee Cooper said, “We have already funded several projects for 2023, and once we have determined our fund balance and the cost of dissolution, we estimate that about $25,000 will be donated to LifeStream to support better practices at the new Baker Act facility.”

In addition, one of Dementia Education’s board members, Debbie Selsavage, has pledged to provide LifeStream free training in the philosophy and practices of Person-Centered Compassionate Care through her company, Coping with Dementia LLC.

Youngblood said he hopes Dementia Education Inc’s commitment will serve as an example for all mental health stakeholders to step up to support the completion of Citrus County’s long-awaited Baker Act facility. He said, “We are thrilled with the recent positive step forward taken by the Citrus Board of County Commissioners, and hope completion of this facility will become a springboard from which our County will identify and confront the broader range of mental health services it badly needs.”

02/15/2023

Here's the comprehensive schedule of our ABC of Dementia workshops to date. More -- many more -- will be added. Watch this page to see updates in the schedule, or call 352-422-3663 for information or to make reservations.

02/15/2023

This evening we did a presentation and training for 60 members of the Citrus County Citizens' Emergency Response Team. Lots of lively discussion. Great to give a little payback for this group that has done so much to help us with our Walk over the years. Thank you, CERT, for the opportunity.

02/13/2023

We had a nice group for our ABC of Dementia workshop at the Lakes Region Library in Inverness, Florida. We present this free workshop once a month at one of the libraries in Citrus County. Watch this page for schedules, or call 352-422-3663.

02/10/2023

Today we conducted an ABC of Dementia workshop at Lake Rousseau RV Resort, just north of Crystal River. This was our second time; we trained there six years ago. Great audience. Thank you, Lake Rousseau, for the opportunity.

02/01/2023

My day started out very early with speaking to the Central Citrus Rotary club at the YMCA in Lecanto. We had a great discussion about the “Better Baker Act” Initiative. In fact, we went overtime, so thank you all for your attention to such a hot topic for Citrus County. If you would like more information about this rotary club please visit their website: https://citrusrotary.com/

Then, I was off to The Villages for a 10:00 am speaking engagement with: Always a Nurse. There were 50 retired nurses that were very engaging as we discussed the disease of our time. Dementia. I was able to do some role play from the Positive Approach to Care. We went overtime in this meeting also, so all in all it was a great morning. If you would like more information about this club visit their website: https://www.alwaysanurseclub.com/

01/29/2023

There are some very heavy-hitting nonprofits in Citrus County, so we are both surprised and deeply honored to learn this morning that Dementia Education Inc. has been named by the Citrus County Chronicle Nonprofit of the Year! A big thank you to our supporters -- especially Coping with Dementia LLC and the U.S. Family Foundation -- who provided the resources, and to our entire board of directors who did the hard work to make this recognition possible. But don't forget: "Until there's a cure, there's only care!"