Life Before Alzheimer’s San Diego
Alisa Isumi has worked with seniors since she was 17 years old. She started as a dining room waitress at a retirement community, and has since worked in all levels of residential senior living serving in roles in social services or activity departments. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Alisa was working for a medical program for seniors, and in 2022 she was “ready to return to the type of work [she] had done for many years before that, which was something that [she] enjoyed both personally and professionally.”
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Gerontology and a Master’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Promotion. Needless to say, she was “intentional about [her] desire to work with seniors” and her experiences now help her guide care partners to the help they need. As a San Diego native and someone who has spent her entire career in this area, Alisa is very familiar with the community resources and programs available to people here.
Working with Care Partners
Among Alisa’s main responsibilities is facilitating two of our care partners support groups – the Men’s Care Partners Group and the Young-Onset Care Partners Group (more of which you can learn about here). She also leads a program for care partners of people living with early stage memory loss. Outside of this, she helps oversee other Clinical Services programs and occasionally conducts training for the California Highway Patrol and San Diego County Sheriff officers.
“The [Alzheimer’s San Diego] team is small but mighty!” When Alisa first joined us, she immediately noticed the connections the staff has with the people we support in the community, and she says that making those connections has become the most rewarding part of her job. She also appreciates being able to lean on other staff members with different expertises, which in turn “allows us to better serve clients.”
Alisa’s Perspective
Alisa has multiple personal connections to dementia. Her grandmother had Alzheimer’s disease and Alisa helped support her and her aunt, who was the primary care partner. Alisa also had direct caregiving experience with her mother, who developed vascular dementia after experiencing a brain aneurysm and stroke. She encourages people to call early on in their journey, and adds that people “frequently say they wished they would have reached out sooner.” A memorable connection she’s had is when she met a care partner, Michelle Hardy, at Walk4ALZ that she’d known for over a year from one of our virtual support groups. “We were both looking for the other in the crowd and all of a sudden we were right next to each other! Being welcomed into their family photo told me that I was making a difference in her caregiving experience.”
Check out our free support groups, education classes, social activities, & more. You may also call our office at 858.492.4400 to speak with one of our Clinical Care Coaches (Spanish speakers available).
By Braulio Ambriz
RECOMMENDED: Meet Ana Ochoa, our Data Assistant!
