Alder Allensworth, MM, RN, CIHC
www.MackenzieMeetsAlzheimers.com
Alder is a Registered Nurse. The inspiration for this project came from Alder’s personal experience watching her Mother who had Alzheimer’s disease interact with her grandchildren (Alder’s nieces and nephews).
Professionally, she worked with children and geriatrics, including those with Alzheimer’s disease. Allensworth has also published several articles in professional journals. She won a Richter Publishing book contract in 2017. Her book, Prevail: Celebrate the Journey, is available on Amazon and has a five star review rating. She is a speaker and presenter in the field of disabilities on local, national and international stages. Allensworth has been featured on CNN, local and international television and newspapers for her life’s work of promoting quality of life for all people with disabilities.
About Mackenzie
The Mackenzie’s Meets Alzheimer’s Awareness Program is based on the true story of the interaction between Alder’s 8-year-old niece, and Alder’s mother who had Alzheimer’s disease.
In the Program, Mackenzie is an 8-year-old hero. After being told her Gran has Alzheimer’s, she goes on a journey to learn about the disease, and to figure out how she can help her Gran. Mackenzie discovers how to maintain a meaningful relationship with her Gran using art, music and dance.
Join Mackenzie as she learns how to enJOY and interact with her Gran. This multi-media Program will help your family have quality time with your loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease, or any type of dementia.
About Mary Gynn
www.teachingforhealth.com
I’m a Registered Nurse, with a BSN, MSN/MS, and MPH. Soon after graduating from high school, I attended a 3-year Nursing diploma program at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL. After raising a family, I returned to school to receive a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) followed by a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) and a Master’s in Health Education (MS) in a combined program where I put in an extra year and wrote a thesis. A few years later, I received a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Illinois (Chicago) School of Public Health, with a final paper on The History of Mastectomy
My extensive education introduced me to the world of chronic disease. From this start and from clinical work with patients subjected to chronic disease, I chose to focus on diabetes.
Career & Publications
After receiving my RN Degree early in my career, I worked in hospitals and with the Visiting Nurses Association of Chicago. After then raising a family and going back to school to receive my graduate degrees, I taught high school health, and worked at the American Hospital Association, for the American Cancer Society, and at Illinois Tool Works. Later in my career, I taught for 13 years as an adjunct professor at the College of Lake County in Illinois, with courses on anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and medical terminology. I was mid-career and working on my Master’s in Public Health when I decided to specialize in diabetes self-management education.
I have written for publications including the Senior Voice and an ongoing series of articles entitled Project Sugar. I presented The Politics of Health in a radio show and at the bottom of the page, you can find links to some of those radio shows, as well as PDFs of some of my Project Sugar publications.
I raised a family while earning my degrees and have the ongoing support of my adult children as I continue my career and passion of prediabetes and diabetes self management education.
Current Work
Today I am a member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators and am a freelance educator of prediabetes and diabetes self management. I offer consultations and health coaching to individuals, and provide workshops to senior centers, libraries, churches, colleges, women’s and men’s groups and at pharmacies.
I maintain my IL and FL nursing licenses and founded Teaching for Health to put my experience and knowledge to use, helping others learn about pre-diabetes and diabetes prevention. I currently live in FL (area of Florida) and in IL. I offer individualized coaching, as well as group workshops on diabetes prevention and Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME).