Playwright Garrett Davis was stunned when he came home on spring break years ago and his grandmother didn’t recognize him.
His grandmother had raised him and now he felt like a stranger. Although she died with Alzheimer’s more than 25 years ago, that moment has remained with him and was the spark for a new play.
“A woman I loved dearly didn’t know who I was,” said Davis. “I was too immature to know what Alzheimer’s was” or how do deal with it when the disease hit his family.
On Saturday, Davis will kick off the national tour of his play, “Unforgettable,” at the Riverside EpiCenter in Austell.
Over the years, he has researched the disease and has produced plays and projects around that and other health-related issues, particularly those concerning the Black community. “I’m trying to make good so that if someone finds themselves in my position, they will do it differently.”
African-Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as they age, compared to whites, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Georgia Chapter. Of the more than 150,000 Georgians living with the disease, 19% are Black and 14% are Latino.
Alzheimer’s, which affects more than 6 million Americans, is a debilitating disease that robs people of their memories and cognitive skills and can affect their behavior.
In the play, the family matriarch is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her loved ones must make some difficult decisions on how they will tackle the future. It also brings awareness to the under-representation of people of color in clinical trials and research, and how that leads to communities of color being underserved.
“This is an unconventional and creative way to provide education and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and the stigma association with it in our community,” said Dr. Carl V. Hill, chief diversity officer for the national Alzheimer’s Association and graduate of Morehouse College. He graduated in the first class in the Morehouse School of Medicine’s master’s program in public health.
He said when people exhibit some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as memory loss, it can often be mistaken for mental illness.
Additionally, in the Black and Latino communities there is a need for information about warning signs and available resources for the patients and their caregivers. They are often diagnosed later in the course of the disease when medical needs are great and there is a lack of culturally-appropriate programming.
Awareness is just one component, though. Hill would also like to see more conversations about diversity when it comes to participation in clinical trials. Blacks and Latinos are less likely to be recruited to participate in medical trials and it can determine the outcome of certain treatments.
“This will give us assurances that these treatments are not only effective but safe in their use for all populations,” he said.
If you go:
“Unforgettable”
GDavis Productions and the Alzheimer’s Association
3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday
Riverside EpiCenter, 135 Riverside Pkwy, Austell
Tickets are free
www.unforgettableplay.com
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