GetSetUp Guide Jennifer: The Dementia Care Nurse Bringing 15+ Years of Senior Care Expertise to GetSetUp

Jennifer has worked in senior care management since 2010, alongside hands-on nursing work at a local facility that cares for patients with complex psychiatric needs, geriatric psychiatric conditions, and hospice care. Across all of it, one thread has stayed constant: dementia.

"I still do a lot of dementia education and volunteering with the Alzheimer's Association," Jennifer says, a commitment that has shaped both her career and the classes she now teaches on GetSetUp.

That commitment took on a new form during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Jennifer started a nonprofit called Proactive Partners, focused entirely on dementia education. 

"We use Zoom and help people get the information they need about dementia care," she explains. Word of mouth grew the effort into volunteer-run group talks with law enforcement agencies, senior organizations, and community education programs.

Jennifer also runs her own senior care management business, Proactive Nursing Solutions, and collaborates with Dr. Anita Sharma, (a recently retired professor who started the GERO Institute at the University of Louisiana at Monroe) on educating nursing home administrators and social workers as a part of their continuing education units (CEUs).  Her work also extends to long-term care insurance. She helps seniors navigate the claims process by completing their nursing assessment to access the benefits they're entitled to, work that regularly takes her to Texas and Arkansas.

"I'll never retire," Jennifer says simply. "I enjoy working and will for as long as I can."

Why Dementia Care Education Is Jennifer's Life's Work

Ask Jennifer what she's most passionate about, and the answer comes without hesitation: senior care management and dementia care education.

"I'm passionate about dementia education because it's such a niche and it's needed, and it's not known about," she says. "People are always searching for it but don't know how or where to find it. I see the need and fill it."

For Jennifer, the payoff is watching that need get met in real time. 

"Dementia education is fulfilling. Seeing people when their lightbulb goes off is so great”, she says. "Hearing 'this is great, my frustration is less, this is so helpful' and seeing that what I have taught is working for them: that is rewarding."

Guide Jennifer is an excellent example of a Guide who embodies GetSetUp’s values of being bold, empowering, hospitable, and curious. She does this in unique ways as she is aging.

Being Bold, Hospitable, and Curious as She Ages

Jennifer's approach to aging is less about slowing down and more about pushing further. Part of that is embodying GetSetUp values of being bold, empowering, hospitable, and curious. 

"I'm always trying to think outside the box," she says, highlighting one way she is trying to be bold. "As we get to a certain age, we get to a comfort zone and don't get out, and I'm always looking to go a little further. I don't feel I'm doing enough if I'm not expanding and pushing."

Jennifer describes being hospitable with her time above all else. "I probably outwork anyone in their 20s and 30s, and I don't mind," she says. "I’ll quickly sacrifice sleep and something else to do if there is a greater good."

Her curiosity ranges from national politics, since one of her best friends is married to a congressman, which brings frequent trips to Washington, D.C., to the latest breakthroughs in Alzheimer's research and dementia and psychiatric medications. 

"There is so much research coming about," she says. She's also always on the hunt for a new craft to learn.

To recharge and keep her mind sharp, Jennifer leans on crossword puzzles and craft projects. "That's one way I keep my brain active," she says, tying her hobbies directly back to the brain-health principles she teaches.

What Opportunities Has GetSetUp Given Jennifer?

For Jennifer, teaching on GetSetUp has meant something bigger than adding a new platform to her work: it has meant reach.

"GetSetUp gave me the opportunity to reach further and beyond the city, state, and country I live in," she says. 

"Especially meaningful is teaching such a valuable resource like dementia education, which is such a special resource. And meeting some of the people that I have met through the GetSetUp community, that's been really special and really uplifting. It feels good to know you are able to reach people you would never be able to reach otherwise."

What Classes Does Jennifer Teach on GetSetUp?

Jennifer has been teaching on GetSetUp for more than six years, since close to the platform's earliest days. 

Her current classes include craft classes, which double as personal enjoyment and community-building. 

"Being with like-minded people and thinking outside the box," she says, is part of the appeal, along with focusing on DIY projects using materials people already have at home.

She also teaches dementia education classes, the through line of her entire career, aimed at helping people engage with each other and put new tools into practice.

Additionally, she hosts a newer class in collaboration with Genworth | CareScout, exploring tools that make life safer and easier for aging adults. 

"I continue to think of new items I’d like to include, and there are some great devices out there," she says. "I'm enjoying that class as well."

Teaching on GetSetUp has also pushed Jennifer to grow her own technology skills. 

"I've had to learn more about technology just to be a part of GetSetUp," she says, "so it's helped me to grow in that area as well.” 

She's also learned the discipline of scoping a class to fit its time slot. 

"There's an unlimited amount of topics, so it's a matter of keeping it limited with the time you have. GetSetUp’s been a great experience in every way."

Jennifer highlights that expertise built over an almost 40-year career in healthcare doesn't have to stay local. Through Proactive Nursing Solutions, Proactive Partners, and her classes on GetSetUp, she has turned more than fifteen years of dementia, hospice, and geriatric psychiatric care experience into education that reaches families far outside Louisiana, one Zoom call, one class, and one "lightbulb moment" at a time.