By Rob Winningham, Ph.D.
Every June, the world turns purple. Ribbons appear on lapels, buildings glow violet at dusk, and social media fills with stories of families, caregivers, and communities joining together to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, led by the Alzheimer’s Association, is a global initiative to encourage conversation, promote early detection, and support the tens of millions of people affected by this disease.
For life enrichment professionals and teams working in assisted living, memory care, and senior living communities, this month is more than an awareness campaign—it is an invitation to lead. You are already doing the most meaningful work. June gives us a platform to share and amplify it.
Why This Month Matters for Senior Living Professionals
More than 55 million people worldwide are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, and in the United States alone, that number appears to be greater than seven million. Importantly, the number of people living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is also high, with some estimates being an additional seven million people.
For those working in senior living activities and life enrichment, these numbers are not statistics—they are residents and their loved ones. The work you do every day to engage, connect, and bring joy to residents is incredibly valuable. Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month is the time to make people aware of the warning signs, and it is also an opportunity to make people more aware of the scientifically based information about prevention.
Simple Ways to Go Purple in Your Community
The Alzheimer’s Association encourages everyone to “go purple” throughout June, wearing the official color, lighting up buildings, and sharing awareness on social media using the #ENDALZ hashtag. For life enrichment professionals and senior living teams, this translates naturally into programming and community engagement.
Start by inviting staff and residents to wear purple on a designated day or throughout the month. A simple purple ribbon craft in your activity room doubles as both engagement and advocacy. Consider placing a small display in your lobby with information about the 10 Early Signs and Symptoms Alzheimer’s and Dementia a resource that families and visitors often take home and act on.
Beyond the visual aspect of raising Alzheimer’s awareness this month, June is an excellent time to host a family education evening. Partnering with your local Alzheimer’s Association chapter or a memory care specialist to present on brain health, warning signs, and caregiver support can be one of the most meaningful events your community offers all year. Families in senior living communities are often quietly carrying questions they have never known how to ask. Creating a space for those conversations is a gift.
10 Warning Signs: A Practical Tool
One of the foundations of the Alzheimer’s Association’s educational work is the recognition of the 10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Unlike typical age-related changes, these signs reflect meaningful disruption to daily life and should always prompt a conversation with a physician.
The signs include:
- Memory loss that disrupts daily routines
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks
- Confusion with time or place
- New challenges with visual and spatial understanding
- New challenges with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing items and being unable to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood or personality
Sharing these signs in common areas, in your community’s newsletter, or on your community’s social media are some ways life enrichment professionals can increase awareness this month. A common response from families after a diagnosis is that they wish they had sought an evaluation sooner. Education can impact that, in addition to sharing information about the science of preventing or delaying dementia.
10 Modifiable Factors: The Science of Preventing Dementia
I and many others have devoted our careers to not just detecting dementia but also preventing it. And, the good news is that we can dramatically lower our risk of developing dementia by engaging in certain modifiable lifestyle factors. A 2024 study published in the medical journal The Lancet reported that we could reduce our chance of developing dementia by an estimated 45 percent if we make lifestyle changes. Here are 10 of these modifiable lifestyle factors:
- Do more aerobic and strength training. This is probably the area of research with the greatest number of studies supporting it. We know that both strength training and aerobic exercise can not only delay symptoms associated with dementia but they can also improve cognitive abilities, especially in people who are inactive or living with mild cognitive impairment. Yoga and Tai Chi have also been shown to increase cognitive abilities in older adults.
- Exercise your brain. Cognitive stimulation has been associated with a reduced likelihood of developing dementia. This lifestyle factor begins early in life, as we see people with more education are less likely to develop dementia. But many studies have also shown that interventions in which people exercise their brains and cognitive abilities can lead to improvements in cognition, especially for people who are experiencing earlier stages of cognitive impairment.
- Take measures to avoid strokes. Make sure your blood pressure is in the normal range and keep it there. Hypertension and other factors that increase the risk of a cardiovascular event are associated with a much higher risk of dementia. Vascular dementia, caused by a cardiovascular event such as a stroke, is the second most common type of dementia, after Alzheimer’s.
- Control cholesterol. Research has shown that high LDL cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of dementia. This relationship could exist because high LDL cholesterol negatively affects the health of our cardiovascular system, but high LDL may also lead to inflammation in the brain or other brain abnormalities.
- Avoid or treat diabetes. Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of dementia. But the good news is that treating the diabetes through medication and lifestyle changes can reduce that risk.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause a certain type of dementia (i.e., Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome) or put people at risk for other types of dementia. There are a number of hypotheses that attempt to explain why alcohol increases dementia risk, including vascular damage, poor Vitamin B1 absorption, and brain shrinkage.
- Protect your hearing and correct hearing impairments. There is a relationship between hearing loss and one’s chance of developing dementia. One of the theories as to why hearing loss is associated with increased dementia risk is that people may disengage socially if they experience hearing difficulties. The lack of social engagement robs people of an excellent way of exercising their brains—being socially engaged. Note: There is also evidence that uncorrected visual impairments are associated with increased risks of dementia.
- Be socially engaged. As stated above, social engagement is cognitively stimulating. Research has shown that the most socially engaged people are the least likely to develop dementia. Social engagement can also provide opportunities for purposeful and meaningful engagement, which can improve mood and decrease the chance of developing depression.
- Avoid or treat depression. We know that depression can increase the risk of dementia. This might happen for a number of reasons. First, we see smaller parts of the brain associated with memory (i.e., in the hippocampi) in people living with dementia and depression. Second, depression makes it harder to engage in the positive lifestyle behaviors that are associated with better brain health.
- Avoid smoking and air pollution. Both smoking and air pollution appear to increase the risk of dementia. This may occur due to damage to the vascular system, brain inflammation due to toxic buildup in the brain, or damage to brain cells.
Make June Count
Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month is a global moment, but it lives locally—in your activity room, your courtyard, your family newsletter, and the conversations you spark in your community. You do not need a large budget or a complex event plan to make an impact. What you already bring each day—expertise, empathy, and meaningful engagement—is what truly matters.
Every program, conversation, music session, and shared moment of connection helps create a more supportive and brain-healthy environment for older adults. The work activity professionals do every day plays an important role in helping residents feel connected, purposeful, and valued.
Wear purple. Share the warning signs. Talk about modifiable risk factors. And remember that the work you do every single day is exactly what this month is meant to promote.
Looking for additional brain wellness and engagement ideas for older adults? Grab your free brain-boosting puzzles here.
About the Author: Dr. Rob Winningham received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Baylor University. He joined the faculty at Western Oregon University in 2000, where he serves as a Professor of Psychological Sciences and Gerontology and Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Division, where he created the Gerontology Department. His scholarship and publications have generally focused on maximizing older adults’ quality of life, cognitive stimulation, physical activity, intergenerational programs, and social engagement throughout the lifespan. In addition to publishing many peer-reviewed scientific articles, Dr. Winningham has been invited to give nearly 2,000 presentations at various conferences, workshops, and community settings. He helped Nancy Ewald and Activity Connection publish the popular workbook Cranium Crunches, which is available at amazon.com.
Leave a Reply