Memory café toolkit offered

Jewish Family & Children’s Service has released a “memory café” toolkit to support communities and other entities committed to improving the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners.
 
A memory café, sometimes called an Alzheimer’s café, is a social gathering for individuals living with dementia and their care partners. The cafés welcome individuals at any stage of disease progression, including those with early onset conditions. Care partners can include spouses, children, friends, and professional caregivers.
 
Memory cafés meet in accessible community locations and offer an atmosphere similar to a coffee house or neighborhood party rather than a clinical program. Typically, guests are not asked their diagnosis, so all feel welcome.
 
“Councils on aging are ideal organizations for hosting memory cafés because they have compassionate, well-trained staff and friendly, welcoming atmospheres,” said David Stevens, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging. “Caregivers need help to break out of the social isolation that all too often accompanies caring for someone with dementia. … We must all strive to make our communities dementia friendly – caring for the caregiver and the adult with dementia, together.”
 
An estimated one in eight individuals age 65 or older has a diagnosable condition causing the symptoms of dementia, according to the MCOA. Thousands of Massachusetts residents under age 65 also live with dementia. The cost of care due to dementia outstrips that of cancer and heart disease.
 
Memory cafés are a cost-effective way to offer social connection, enlivening activities, and information to individuals living with dementia, along with their family members, friends, and professional caregivers. They also engage the broader community, through volunteer opportunities and business sponsorships.
 
In addition to senior centers, memory cafés have been held in museums, restaurants or coffee shops, historical societies, community centers, outdoor gardens, houses of worship, and many other locations.
 
The toolkit, which includes downloadable templates that can be edited and adapted for use by a new memory café, was developed with support from the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
 
Jewish Family & Children’s Service started the second memory café in Massachusetts in March 2014 and coordinates the Memory Café Percolator Network, which meets quarterly to give those starting and sustaining memory cafés a forum to share questions, best practices and resources. More than 30 new cafés have started with support from the network, making Massachusetts home to the largest concentration of memory cafés in the nation.
 
The Memory Café Toolkit can be downloaded at www.jfcsboston.org/MemoryCafeToolkit. A list of memory cafés in Massachusetts can be found at www.jfcsboston.org/MemoryCafeDirectory.