Memory Café supports Alzheimer’s community
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
SSM Health at Home Branch Manager Jodi Loucks is part of a local team of healthcare professionals working to organize the Memory Café, a weekly support group designed to provide caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients with a safe space in which to “laugh, learn, and remain socially engaged.”
Of all incurable illnesses, Alzheimer’s disease is perhaps the most heartbreaking, robbing as it does the afflicted of their past and personality and burdening caregiving family members with an increasing sense of loss and isolation.
In an effort to ease that burden and reassure Alzheimer’s caregivers that they don’t stand alone, SSM Health at Home, the home-care arm of SSM Health St. Francis Hospital, is launching a new program called the Memory Café.
Offered at no cost to local Alzheimer’s families, the Memory Café will consist of late-morning sessions for both Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers held on the second Thursday of each month in the newly completed Gathering Space at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Maryville.
The first session is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 12.
SSM Health at Home Branch Manager Jodi Loucks said the hour-long sessions will be designed to provide social and clinical connections at a time when they are needed most.
The idea is to create an affirming space in which caregivers and patients can come together while forging new friendships and supporting one another.
Loucks said the monthly networking opportunity is recommended for patients and families coping with early or moderate memory loss related to Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia, and brain injuries.
“Our mission,” she said, “is to provide a safe, comfortable, engaging environment where people with memory loss and their care partners can laugh, learn, and remain socially engaged with others travelling the same journey.”
In addition to empathy and emotional support, Loucks said Memory Café will provide caregivers with practical solutions and coping strategies designed to make their lives easier while they strive to give patients the best care possible.
Informal dialogue between caregivers will be encouraged, but the meetings are also to include presentations by local healthcare professionals, who will address such topics as medical care, diet, and physical therapy.
“Any clinical questions they would have, the answers will be available there,” Loucks said.
A central goal, she said, is to provide caregivers with resources that “will make life a little bit easier for them in the home.”
Kim Treese, a licensed practical nurse who serves as activities coordinator for the SSM Health at Home Foundation, will facilitate the sessions. Others involved include Dr. Jerry Wilmes; registered nurse Jackie Ross, a specialist in community health education; and Alzheimer’s activist Jessica Loch.
“The main goal,” Loucks said, “is to provide caregivers and loved ones with a safe environment where there are people they can relate to so they know they are not alone.”
That feeling of isolation, she said, is perhaps the biggest challenge many dementia caregivers face.
“We just want people to know,” Loucks said, “that they are not the only ones going through this, that there are people they can talk to and feel supported.”
No registration is required for participating in the Memory Café, but signing up beforehand is encouraged. For more information, call Loucks’ office at 660-562-7904.
