John “Alec” Stephenson, an administrator at the Silverado Aspen Park memory care community in Salt Lake City, raised a son with a hearing impairment. As many parents of children who are hearing impaired, the family embraced sign language as a means to communicate with their son. Years later, Alec started a program to teach sign language to the residents of his memory care community. This program has become so popular that now residents meet weekly to learn sign language.

Read on to learn more about sign language and dementia, a brain fitness program to help seniors maintain a brain-healthy lifestyle, and things you can do to reduce your risk of dementia.