CENTER TWP — Don't call it a seminar, because organizers say the Dementia Live Experience at Newhaven Court at Clearview is a unique event that allows attendees to actually experience what it's like to live with dementia.

Healthcare professionals, caregivers, families dealing with dementia issues, college students or anyone dealing with dementia is invited to the Dementia Live Experience from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 13 at Newhaven Court at Clearview off Henricks Road.

Participants, who will get a deeper understanding of dementia through cognitive impairment and sensory changes, must sign up in advance for a half-hour session at www.olderpa.org.

“You really live what our residents with dementia experience,” said Gary Renwick, executive director at Newhaven Court at Clearview. “Everyone knows someone with memory problems, and anytime folks can get exposure to and education on dementia and Alzheimer's disease, it's certainly a benefit.”

Newhaven Court can accommodate 18 live-in dementia patients and three daytime residents, according to Krystle Pry, the facility's director of resident care.

“A diagnosis is very scary,” Pry said. “They know at some point they have to come to terms with the complete loss of themselves.”

John Green of Summit Township visited his father, Elmer, Thursday.

Green said he and his siblings worried about their dad living alone in the family home where he has resided since 1978. Green's mother died several years ago.

Then, Elmer fell and broke some ribs. The doctor, Green said, told the family Elmer could not go back to living alone.

Elmer initially moved into the assisted living side of Newhaven Court, where he resided for a short time before moving to the memory care unit.

“We know he is in a safe place with people who care about him,” Green said. “Dad deserves this.”

Pry said a common misconception regarding memory loss is that there is only Alzheimer's disease.

“There are several different kinds of dementia,” Pry said. “What one of our residents does very well for a year, another resident might decline at more quickly.”

Stephanie Steiger, Newhaven Court's director of sales and marketing, said families visiting their parents on the memory care unit often become close.

“The families visiting on the unit become family with one another here,” she said. “They are all dealing with the same things and they have that in common.”

Steiger, who is a board member on the county's Alzheimer's Association, recommends family members who are caring for a loved one with dementia join one of the many support groups available throughout the county.

“The Alzheimer's Association has a list of groups,” she said.

Pry and Steiger hope to get a good turnout for the Dementia Live Experience March 13.

“It's important for caregivers to see what these people deal with on a daily basis,” Pry said.