Agencies that provide home care are on high alert, as America's generation of baby boomers -those born between 1946 and 1964 - become our country's largest group of senior citizens ever. A natural consequence will be a corresponding need for caregivers with specialized training in Alzheimer's and dementia care. This December, Mary Winters, president of the Long Island Chapter of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP) and director of the home care agency, Region Care, Inc (Hempstead, NY), appears on a discussion panel on The Challenges of Alzheimer's, for the televised series Exploring Critical Issues produced by Telecare Studios and hosted by Adelphi University President Dr. Robert A. Scott. The hour-long broadcast airs over two weeks beginning Saturday December 10th, and explores the unrelenting challenges Alzheimer's presents to patients, families, researchers, society and our health care system. Dr. Scott leads the discussion on prevention, treatment and care with guests - in addition to Mary Winters - as follows: Adelphi University Professor of Psychology Dr. Robert Bornstein, Music and Memory Executive Director Dan Cohen, MSW; and Dr. Howard Fillit of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. Studies show that the elderly and family decision-makers prefer the option of in-home care over institutional care, observes Winters. For those with Alzheimer's and dementia, there is particular comfort to familiar surroundings. In-home care is also cost-effective although changes in Medicaid may well impact home care as an option. According to Dr. Scott, the panel serves to raise the right issues and explore some answers to what many deem to be a health emergency. The Challenges of Alzheimer's broadcasts in December over two weeks as follows: Saturday, December 10 and December 17 at 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 11 and December 18 at 7:00 a.m.; Monday, December 12 and December 19 at 10:30 p.m.; and Friday, December 16 and December 23 at 1:00 p.m. "The Challenges of Alzheimer's" can be viewed on Cablevision channels 29 (Long Island) and 137 (Connecticut and NY area outside of Long Island), Verizon FiOS channel 296 (including NY and Fairfield, CT) and simultaneously online at www.telecaretv.org. The program will also be linked at the New York State Association for Health Care Providers at www.nyshcp.org. Seen by over seven million households, Exploring Critical Issues has earned three Telly Awards, the cable equivalent of the Emmy. For more information, visit www.telecaretv.org. Photo Caption Adelphi University President Dr. Robert A. Scott hosts Telecare's Exploring Critical Issues broadcast "The Challenges of Alzheimer's" airing over two weeks in December on Verizon FiOS 296 and Cablevision channels 29 and 137 (and streaming simultaneously online at www.telecaretv.org) beginning Saturday, December 10th with panel guests including: Adelphi University Professor of Psychology Dr. Robert Bornstein, Music and Memory Executive Director Dan Cohen, MSW; Dr. Howard Fillit of Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and New York State Association of Health Care Providers/Long Island Chapter President Mary Winters (pictured here with Dr. Scott). About the LI Chapter The Long Island Chapter of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of some 35 health care provider agencies as well as 20 associate members in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and dedicated to the exploration, education, patient care and professional standards within the home care industry. For more, visit http://www.nyshcp.org