EP 80 :: Alzheimer’s Is Not Just A Memory Problem :: Brooks Kenny
Brooks Kenny talks with Bobbi and Mike about her experience caring for her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s and how that led her to become the general manager for BrainGuide, a first-of-its-kind platform that empowers people to manage their own or a loved one’s brain health.
Brooks serves as executive director of the Women’s Network at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. She also directs the organization’s consumer–facing brain health education and engagement programs as the general manager for BrainGuide, the organization’s newest initiative focusing on bringing state-of-the-art technology to consumers across the country.
Brooks has spent her career applying marketing and business know-how to social causes and has become a national speaker on women’s brain health, Alzheimer’s disease, and caregiving.
“We know the tsunami is coming, and it's time to start a new conversation, which is really what inspired us to develop this new platform called BrainGuide. We want it to serve all communities and empower people whether they're worried about their own brain health, they have concerns for a loved one, or perhaps are caring for someone living with Alzheimer's disease,” Brooks explains. “We wanted people to have a place to go that gives them the next step in their journey because this is such a challenging path and it's a path that is not always well understood. So, we're hopeful that BrainGuide will allow people to get to a place where they are having earlier discussions about Alzheimer’s, getting earlier detection, and correct diagnoses.”
“When we're talking about Alzheimer's disease, we're talking about eventually having it affect sight, hearing, balance, and reasoning. So, the sooner we can get a diagnosis, the sooner we can understand how to deal with the behaviors and have a team in place to help caregivers do what they need to do,” Bobbi adds.
“The problem of brain health is so vast in terms of the lack of detection, diagnosis, the lack of a common narrative, and conversation. We must reduce the stigma of mental health to ensure that we can detect dementia at its earliest point, and I think that it starts with our kids,” Brooks says.
You can learn more about BrainGuide by visiting their website and follow UsAgainstAlzheimer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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