The Dementia Collective #45 is Live!

This episode can be found HERE

What does it take to turn one father’s final request into a movement that is changing how the world thinks about dementia?

In this episode, Andrew Karesa sits down with Hassan Fadli, engineer, endurance athlete, filmmaker, and founder of the nonprofit initiative Five Ironmans Beat Alzheimer’s. After his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Hassan was asked to do something not just for his family, but for everyone affected by dementia. The very next day, he committed to completing five full Ironman triathlons in a single year, using endurance sport as a platform to challenge stigma, promote brain health, and inspire action.

Alongside the five Ironman races, Hassan and his team spent years filming a documentary across Europe, interviewing more than one hundred people including neurologists, caregivers, policymakers, researchers, people living with dementia, and even Queen Silvia of Sweden. Rather than searching only for the problems, the film asks a different question: what is already working, and how can we learn from it?

This is a conversation about Alzheimer’s disease, caregiving, endurance sport, advocacy, prevention, hope, and what becomes possible when one person’s purpose grows into a movement.

In this episode:

• The early signs of Hassan’s father’s Alzheimer’s disease and the family’s experience with denial
• The conversation that inspired Five Ironmans Beat Alzheimer’s
• Why Hassan chose to complete five full Ironman triathlons in one year
• How endurance sport became a tool for dementia advocacy
• What training 15 to 20 hours per week taught him about purpose over performance
• What Hassan learned from interviewing more than 100 experts, caregivers, and people living with dementia across Europe
• Dementia-friendly communities, caregiver education, and practical solutions families can use today
• The role governments can play in better supporting family caregivers
• Why Hassan believes there is more hope in dementia care today than ever before

Whether you’re living with dementia, caring for someone you love, passionate about brain health, or simply looking for hope in the face of one of society’s greatest health challenges, this conversation is a powerful reminder that meaningful change often begins with one person deciding to do something.

Join 'The Village' on Patreon

If you believe in what we are building, I’m inviting you to stand with us. For only $5 per month (less than a Starbucks coffee), you can help us grow this movement, reach more families, and continue breaking the stigma around dementia care.

Your support truly makes a difference.

Village Members receive:

• Early access to new episodes

• The ability to submit questions for upcoming guests

• Occasional behind the scenes updates or voice memos from the host

• Optional name listing on our website’s “Thank You Wall”

This work cannot be done alone. Every conversation, every story, and every episode helps shift how the world understands dementia. Your five dollars directly strengthens that impact.

Join The Village HERE and help us bring more voices, more stories, and more hope to caregivers everywhere.

Don’t Forget to Sign Up for blueBell Connect

blueBell Connect, our patent-pending dementia caregiving tool, is available for caregivers to sign up. 

blueBell Connect provides caregivers clinically valid, personally specific and culturally appropriate support recommendations in your daily care for individuals living with dementia. 

Click HERE for a blueBell Connect brochure

For more information, check out bluebellconnect.ca or email [email protected]

Click HERE to sign up