Breaking Barriers

The theme of this conference has been "breaking barriers," which can be interpreted in many ways, but mainly in terms of the barriers between persons diagnosed with dementia and those not so diagnosed. There are also the barriers of stereotypes, some of which were broken tonight when a wonderful Norwegian New Orleans jazz band played at the "gala" dinner and the folks so committed to persons with dementia danced in their fancy outfits. There were many wonderful moments, like sitting at dinner between a neurologist from Jordan and a Swedish clinical psychologist talking about national stereotypes. The Swedish woman told how impressed she is with Norway which she grew up thinking of as a backward nation. This is no longer true, thanks to oil money and a smart government that has been spending it wisely on infrastructure and social programs.

Now, I must contemplate a very long travel day: Oslo/Copenhagen/Chicago/Appleton. It will be wonderful to be home again but this certainly has been an amazing experience in travel, meeting people, gaining all kinds of new insights into dementia, and experiencing the world beyond Appleton/Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and the US. I feel very blessed.