Free Memory Screening at Covenant Shores on Nov. 19

The Covenant Shores retirement community, 9107 Fortuna Dr., Mercer Island, Wash., will host free, confidential memory screenings from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19. To make an appointment, call (206) 268-3231.

The memory screening averages five to ten minutes, and consists of questions and tasks to assess memory. It does not diagnose an illness, but can indicate whether someone should pursue a follow-up medical exam. 

It is estimated that missed diagnoses of dementia may be as high as 90 percent. National Memory Screening Day serves as a starting point for discussions about memory concerns and lifestyle changes—diet, managing stress, physical and mental exercise—that may help people age successfully. Alzheimer’s disease or other medical conditions could cause memory problems.

Covenant Shores is hosting the screenings during National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month as part of National Memory Screening Day, an annual initiative of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, to promote proper detection of memory problems. 

According to estimates, as many as 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. The number of people with Alzheimer’s is escalating in line with the aging population; the first baby boomers began turning 65 in 2011. Advanced age is the greatest risk factor, with the incidence of the disease doubling every five years between 65 and 95. 

Nationally accredited Covenant Shores is one of 15 retirement communities nationwide that are administered by Skokie, Ill.-based Covenant Retirement Communities Inc. One of the nation’s largest not-for-profit senior services organizations, Covenant Retirement Communities operates communities in eight states and is a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church. For more information on Covenant Shores, call (206) 268-3000or visit www.CovenantShores.org.