Main Street Community Foundation (MSCF), one of the leading grant makers in the Central Connecticut region that serves the communities of Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington, and Wolcott, has been committed to supporting the development of Southington as a brain healthy community for over a decade.

Since 2014, MSCF has awarded a total of over $1 million in grants to LiveWell, an organization that offers services, support, and resources to people living with dementia and cognitive changes, as well as to their carepartners or anyone interested in taking an active role in their own cognitive health. LiveWell began over 30 years ago as the Alzheimer’s Resource Center of Connecticut to support individuals diagnosed with dementia as outlined by Connecticut’s first dementia task force. In 1992, they launched the nation’s first facility dedicated exclusively to dementia care. Today, with their renovated campus known as the Resilient Living Center, along with their assisted living, skilled nursing, and community-based services, LiveWell has become a national leader in brain health.

These initiatives were funded through Bradley Henry Barnes and Leila Upson Barnes Memorial Trust, which is stewarded by the Foundation. This Trust benefits nonprofit organizations that improve the health and wellbeing of the Southington community.

A $100,000 grant from the Trust recently launched a brand-new FINGER-based Cognitive Wellness Clinic – the first of its kind in the United States. Led by the Yale School of Nursing and internationally recognized dementia prevention expert Dr. Miia Kivipelto, in partnership with LiveWell, this clinic is modeled on the landmark Finnish Geriatric (FINGER) Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability. The study showed that multidomain lifestyle interventions in the areas of diet, exercise, cognitive training, social activity, and cardiovascular health are effective in slowing cognitive decline.

At the clinic, community members are welcomed in to the beautiful Resilient Living Center to be assessed for potential risk factors and immediately connects them to existing programs in the same building. The program provides:

• One-on-one wellness consultations with individualized heart and brain health screenings
• Personalized health reports and referrals
• Monthly public education sessions on cognitive resilience and risk reduction
• Quarterly dementia risk-reduction workshops for clinicians and healthcare providers
• Public brain health promotion events
• Development of replicable training and evaluation materials for broader use

LiveWell is aiming to make Southington a Healthy Brain Zone, a community that protects brains at every age, acting on research that shows that about 45 percent of dementia can be prevented or delayed through lifestyle interventions.

To learn more about LiveWell and how to take control of your brain health, visit livewell.org.