Reda Harrison: Finding Quilting and Community After an Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Alzheimer’s advocate Reda Harrison joins Being Patient Live Talks to discuss her experience with her diagnosis of dementia, and later Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and early-onset Alzheimer’s. She’ll also discuss how those diagnoses led her to work with the Alzheimer’s Association and back into quilting.   Harrison was diagnosed with MCI in 2018 and is now in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. After a group study on MCI at the University of Kentucky ​​Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, she began researching the condition’s connection to Alzheimer’s disease, which led her to the Alzheimer’s Association. She became involved in volunteer work and with support groups as she navigated her diagnosis. Harrison was later named an Early-Stage Advisor for the Alzheimer’s Association in the 2022-2023 cohort and continues volunteering as an advocate.  Since retiring in 2021 from the University of Kentucky as a Surgery Coordinator, Harrison has been involved as an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association. Beyond her advocacy work, she has rediscovered quilting and works on projects with her stepdaughter and members of the community. She also gardens as much as she can and takes piano lessons. 

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