Helping Formerly Incarcerated Men Prevent Dementia

Jerome Perkins was once a prison representative, a liaison between incarcerated men, correction officers, and the administration. He made sure the men received a pass to the library or made phone calls to their lawyers, routine privileges they’re supposed to have.

“If I could resolve a problem, then I would do it,’’  Perkins said. 

The trust and respect Perkins earned at East Jersey State Prison is just as valuable to him now that he’s out making a difference in the lives of men with whom he served time. 

A community engagement assistant at Rutgers-Newark, Perkins speaks to other formerly incarcerated men about brain health and encourages them to participate in a Rutgers-Newark study about Alzheimer’s disease prevention known as Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans.

Perkins, 75, of Hillside wound up in this unlikely arena as a member of the Returning Citizens Support Group, a Newark based organization that helps men and women released from prison with services they may need.

It was here, at one of the group’s weekly meetings, that Perkins listened to invited speakers explain how Black people get Alzheimer’s at twice the rate as the general population and how this community is often not represented in studies to find out why.  

The presenters were community brain health educators from the Aging & Brain Health Alliance at Rutgers-Newark, which has been working with older African Americans to lower their risk of dementia, a symptom of Alzheimer’s. 

“They piqued my interest,’’ Perkins said. 

When they asked if anybody had questions, Perkins stood and said his late 101-year-old father had dementia and his sister, now 85, has Alzheimer’s.

“It could be me in a few years,’’ he said.

Perkins needed to find out more. He sat in on lectures and community meetings at Rutgers-Newark, learning that since 2016, the Alliance has studied the health of more than 500 African Americans ages 60 and over from the Newark area. That program - Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans – is nationally recognized as the largest study on aging and Alzheimer’s in the Black community in the country.

Mark A. Gluck, director of the Alliance and Rutgers Professor of Neuroscience and Public Health, reached out to Perkins. Gluck invited him to join the team and spread the word about the Rutgers study to men and women returning home from prison. 

It didn’t take Perkins long to make inroads with the initiative, funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that also provides health advice and outreach to seniors.
In two years, Perkins recruited 17 men – all former prisoners - and two women, who have relatives in prison, to sign up for the Rutgers study of Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans. Omar Shabazz, 67, of Newark, remembers Perkins from their days in prison together.

“Everybody looks up to Jerome,’’ Shabazz said. “I ain’t about no BS, so he wouldn’t try to get me involved in something that was BS.”

“He’s really a pillar in the community,’’ said Chino Ortiz, co-founder of the Returning Citizens Support Group, who has known Perkins for many years. “Everybody has the utmost respect for him. When he speaks, people listen. When it’s coming from Mr. Perkins, people are more inclined to get involved.’’ 

Perkins doesn’t just talk about brain health at Returning Citizens’ meetings. He hands out literature at barbershops and health fairs and attends church presentations with other community brain health educators. 

Tony Hayes, 64 of Trenton, was at a cookout when Perkins asked him to join the study. Hayes agreed because his late mother had dementia, and Perkins, whom he served time with, is his dear friend and mentor.

“A number of us affectionately call him the governor, mayor, or the general, any title associated with leadership,’’ said Hayes, a restorative housing case manager for Salvation and Social Justice, a group in Trenton that is similar to Returning Citizens. “He’s been very prolific at recruiting Black and brown people to be a part the study.”

While it is not clear why African-American’s are more prone to get Alzheimer’s, the results of the study have shown that living a healthy life style can reduce their risks.

When his knees cooperate, Perkins walks as much as he can. Hayes is at the gym and bike rides daily. Shabazz dropped 35 pounds in two years and sharpens his memory playing computer games such as free cell, spades and hearts.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,’’ he said.

Perkins is driven to educate Black people about Alzheimer’s, understanding the difficulty and skepticism he may face getting them to join a study.

“If you don’t have us involved, the data is skewed,’’ Hayes said. “I think that’s the part that motivates him.’’