Dementia-friendly cities gain momentum

Leading Alzheimer's and dementia researchers will hold their final meetings today in Washington, D.C., as part of an international conference run by the Alzheimer's Association.

We've already heard big news this week from that conference, including studies that say women are more vulnerable to the disease. There have also been encouraging results from new drug treatments.

Olivia Mastry, who works with the Minnesota-based group ACT on Alzheimer's, which promotes what they call "dementia friendly communities," is at the conference this week.

So far, the model has been limited to local cities. But an announcement last week at the White House Conference on Aging signaled a big boost for the effort to expand across the country.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Mastry.