Photo by Deb Gau From left to right, area residents Suzy Haas, Justin Wiese, Trudy Madetzke, Randy Wewetzer and moderator Bill Palmer, spoke about experiences caring for family members with dementia.

MARSHALL — Caring for a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia can feel isolating. But speakers at the It Begins With Us conference in Marshall said sharing their stories helped show they weren’t alone.

“It makes me feel good to come to a place like this, and talk to people about things that I’ve dealt with in the last couple years. It makes me feel a lot better,” said Randy Wewetzer. Wewetzer spoke about his mother’s experiences with memory loss as part of a panel of area residents.

As part of Monday’s conference, family members, doctors and more discussed the impact of dementia in southwest Minnesota.

The It Begins With Us conference, formerly called Cultures on the Prairie, is a chance to hear the stories and voices of different people who call Minnesota home, said See Moua-Leske, one of the event organizers. This year, the first day of the conference focused on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, a topic that hadn’t been discussed at It Begins With Us before. Conference attendees heard speakers, and later got a chance to participate in a dementia simulation.

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 6 million people across the U.S., although there may be more people who aren’t diagnosed, said presenter Heidi Haley-Franklin, vice president of the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota chapter.

“We suspect that 100,000 people in Minnesota are living with Alzheimer’s, and in North Dakota, which is the other state that we serve, 13,000 people,” Haley-Franklin said. In addition to that, at least 164,000 Minnesotans are caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease, she said.

“I just want to call that out, that this impacts not only the person living with dementia, but also the people that are helping to support the person living with dementia,” Haley-Franklin said.

There are different types and causes of dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause, Haley-Franklin said. Alzheimer’s can cause a loss of tissue in the brain, leading to symptoms including memory loss, behavioral issues and problems with thinking.

The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, although family history and genetics can also play a factor, Haley-Franklin said. Black and Hispanic Americans are also at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

“The good news is, research has come a long way,” Haley-Franklin said. She said there is new research going on into potential treatments to help with the symptoms of dementia.

A panel of area residents also shared their experiences caring for family members dealing with memory loss and dementia. Wewetzer, Suzy Haas, Justin Wiese and Trudy Madetzke each spoke about the challenges of caring for a parent, spouse or other family member with dementia. While each person’s story was different, panelists said their loved ones experienced symptoms like sometimes not recognizing people or places.

Panelists said it was hard to face up to a diagnosis of dementia.

“I don’t think I ever used the ‘dementia’ word to my family or my relatives,” Wewetzer said of his mother’s memory loss. “I didn’t think of it as dementia. I just thought of it as memory loss.”

Trudy Madetzke said some of her family also had a hard time when her husband had dementia.

“My youngest daughter probably had the most difficult time with the word ‘dementia,’ “ Madetzke said. “I think it was helpful that my husband recognized all the children, that he was able to carry on conversations with them.”

Some panelists, like Haas, said their families found a lot of support from care facilities in Marshall, like Heritage Pointe or Boulder Creek. Haas said she felt “a lot of support” when her father was living at Heritage Pointe.

“I found it mostly from the care facility,” she said.

Wewetzer said his mother had also had strong support at local facilities like Hill Street Place, and later Boulder Creek memory care.

“We’re going to need a lot more of them,” he said of good care facilities.

In her talk, Haley-Franklin said in some ways it could be helpful for people to have an Alzheimer’s diagnosis for a loved one.

“As a social worker, I often hear, ‘You have to name it to tame it,'” she said. “Sometimes validating the experience and giving it a name can give you, at least you know what it is . . . You can make plans that maybe you wouldn’t have made not knowing this information.”

Haas said she thought it was important to accept people where they were, and not miss the good moments with a loved one.

“And there are still really good moments, even when it’s bad, even if you can just find one good moment a day,” she said.