“We need to say the word dementia,” says Adria Thompson, ’12 ’14. “I want people with dementia to be accepted and to be seen in public spaces, not tucked away or treated as a burden to society.”
Thompson carries this message into every space she enters, from global stages to her classroom at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) to social media, where her voice reaches more than half-a-million followers worldwide. Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month in June brings attention to the fact that 7 million Americans in the U.S. live with Alzheimer’s disease and millions more serve as caregivers.
Thompson’s drive to educate and advocate is rooted in her own path through EKU, where she discovered her calling. From Corbin, Kentucky, she said choosing EKU was easy because many of her family members were alumni, and she couldn’t pass up the scholarships.
After initially struggling to pick a major, she decided on communication disorders after a career counseling class pointed her toward speech-language pathology. She thought back to her own positive experience in childhood speech therapy, where she worked to master her R’s—and the pieces finally clicked.
Getting involved in the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association further confirmed she was in the right place. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Thompson stayed at EKU for her master’s in communication disorders, knowing it would open more doors. After she graduated, it didn’t take long to find her first role. She finished her interview at a nursing home and before she even reached her car, her phone rang with a job offer.
Thompson spent the next eight years working in long-term care communities, building the foundation for dementia-focused work. Thompson began specializing in dementia care the same time her grandmother was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease.
Many of her family members brushed off the early signs as normal aging, but Thompson recognized something more. Her grandmother once answered the TV remote as if it were a phone and another time, set the microwave for 20 minutes instead of 20 seconds.
“Those moments made it clear that families needed more education, stronger support and a deeper understanding of dementia,” said Thompson.
This realization fueled her desire to make a broader impact. Along with an occupational therapist, Thompson created a dementia program, training occupational, physical and speech therapists across 14 states to better serve people with dementia.
Expanding to bring dementia education directly to caregivers, Thompson founded Be Light Care Consulting in 2021. From one-on-one consultations and interactive workshops to online courses like Dementia 101 and insightful blog posts, Thompson turns complex information into clear and practical advice for caregivers. Her short videos have gone viral on social media, resulting in more than 600,000 followers.
A $100,000 grant from Maude’s Ventures helped Thompson complete and launch her Dementia Care App, which puts over 500 instructional videos into caregivers’ hands right when they need guidance the most.
Her work has taken her worldwide, from hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain with caregivers, researchers and people with dementia to visiting Hogeweyk, a specialized care facility in the Netherlands, designed to give people with dementia a sense of normal life within a safe environment.
Named Feedspot’s #1 Dementia Influencer of 2025 and one of the Top 10 Caregiving Influencers, Thompson is a TEDx speaker and active member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. She received the EKU Young Alumni Award in 2023 and the Health Innovator Award from Aging 2.0 in 2024.
Also a lecturer at EKU in the Department of Clinical Therapeutic Programs, Thompson strives to give her students the same support her professors gave her. She emphasizes hands-on learning by bringing students into the nursing skills lab, using AI simulations for cognitive-communication disorders and inviting individuals with lived experience to speak in her classes.
“I’m guided by a simple but powerful principle: everything must center around hope,” said Thompson. “Education is the key to empathy, and the more people understand dementia, the better they can see those living with it as equals.”
Since she began specializing in dementia care, she has witnessed a notable growth in awareness and understanding. Thompson also recognizes the ongoing challenges in healthcare, particularly the shortage of physicians specializing in geriatrics, a gap that makes education and advocacy even more critical for the growing population of older adults.
Through her advocacy, teaching and innovative work with Be Light Care, Thompson continues to push for a world where dementia is understood, conversations are open, and those living with the disease are included every step of the way.
“It is an honor that I get to be amongst some of the last few humans who get to touch their lives and support them,” said Thompson.
By: Jake Hall
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