Senior Spotlight – Doreen C. Putnam

When it comes to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who works more tirelessly to educate and train families, professionals, and communities about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than Doreen C. Putnam, CDP®, CADDCT®, CMDCP®, CIPG. 

Putnam of Murrysville is the founder and CEO of DCPutnam Consulting, a firm committed to using Putnam’s vast experience and expertise, both personal and professional, to help those who care for patients with dementia.

“In the late1980s, I became the Director of Education for the Alzheimer’s Association of Central New York and was responsible for developing and implementing educational programming for family caregivers and professionals. Later, when I was living in Grosse Point, MI, I became director of an adult day care program for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients,” said Putnam, who then spent six years from 2007-2013 as the Senior Director of 11 memory care communities for Benchmark Senior Living working throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

She, unfortunately, was personally touched by dementia. “Dementia is an umbrella term and refers to loss of cognitive ability and affects a person’s ability to use reasoning, logic, abstract thinking and memory. Dementia is not a disease but refers to a group of symptoms,” said Putnam, who notes that Alzheimer’s is only one of a number of brain disorders that include, Early On-set or Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Mixed Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Frontotemporal Degeneration (Multiple variants), TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), Down Syndrome, CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), Huntington’s Disease, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, Korsakoff Syndrome, etc.

Her mother suffered three strokes, and after living with vascular dementia for seven years, passed away in 1978. “We see a variety of manifestations depending upon what part of the brain is affected. The part of my mother’s brain that was affected controlled emotions, and she spent the last three years of her life crying all day long,” said Putnam, who later on also became the full-time caregiver for her father and her father-in-law. “My husband had MCI – Mild Cognitive Impairment – and died in 2016 from a TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury,” said Putnam, who through these trials came to know first-hand the stress caregivers face.

In 2019, she moved to Pennsylvania and brought DCPutnam Consulting to the greater Pittsburgh area, to help families and those who care for dementia patients. “Families come to me with all sorts of issues, and I spend time finding ways to help them care for their loved ones and support the primary caregiver.”

She also trains healthcare professionals who care for those with dementia. “There are approximately 6 million Americans who have Alzheimer’s disease and researchers predict that by the year 2050, that number will triple if there is no cure found. We are not prepared for this tsunami, and I’m trying to educate as many as possible,” said Putnam who as a CDP®, Certified Dementia Practitioner, is qualified to train health care professionals. “Since May of 2024, I’ve trained 29 healthcare professionals, and I have three more trainings scheduled for 2025. That means that those professionals, as Certified Dementia Practitioners, will then be able to train others,” she said.

Putnam also educates the community by speaking at churches, senior centers, libraries, and healthcare communities. She has also written a children’s book called Sometimes Grandmama Doesn’t Know Me!

“After reading the book, a man from Murrysville contacted me and offered to help with my quest to educate the public. He provided me with the funds to enable me to distribute the book to all the public libraries in Westmoreland County, as well as 126 offices of the Alzheimer’s Association in the United States,” said Putnam. “Since the book was published in 2021, and through the grant, I have distributed over 2,500 books to individuals and organizations around the country.” The sponsor so believes in her mission that he has provided another $18,000 for her to place the book in the offices of 700 PCPs, neurologists and geriatricians in the greater PGH area who treat those with dementia.

For her herculean effort, Putnam was nominated for and recognized by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners for the: "2018 Certified Dementia Practitioner of the Year Award."

“There is such a need for support for those with dementia and for the caregivers who care for them. I know my professional and personal experience helps to address those needs,” said Putnam. 

For more information on DCPutnam Consulting, visit her website at: www.dcputnamconsulting.com