The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s (AFA) 9th annual National Memory
Screening Day (NMSD) is scheduled for November 15, 2011. AFA holds NMSD
annually in collaboration with local organizations and healthcare
professionals nationwide each November during National Alzheimer’s
Disease Awareness Month.
On NMSD, local sites nationwide offer free, confidential memory screenings to the public and distribute educational materials about memory concerns, dementia, caregiving and successful aging. In 2010, qualified healthcare professionals provided free, confidential memory screenings to an estimated 60,000 people at over 2,300 sites nationwide on NMSD.
Memory screenings are a significant first step toward finding out if someone may have a memory problem. Memory problems could be caused by Alzheimer’s disease or other medical conditions. The screening is non-invasive, consists of a series of questions and tasks, and takes five to ten minutes to administer. All of the NMSD materials that AFA provides clearly emphasize that memory screenings are used as an indicator of whether a person might benefit from an extensive medical exam, but that they are not used to diagnose any illness and in no way replace an exam by a qualified healthcare professional. We encourage medical follow-up.
Register to become an official screening site and receive AFA approved materials by visiting the AFA’s Memory Screening Web site.
