Local libraries offer Memory Cafes; help those with memory loss
SUSSEX, Wis. - Libraries in Waukesha and Jefferson Counties offer "memory cafés" and this year, the group welcomed more people than ever.
Linda Bedford loves Christmas, but two years ago, her memories of the holidays started to fade.
"Sometimes you feel defeated. Sometimes you feel like, what was I thinking about? Where did that come from?" said Bedford.
Library Memory Project
Bedford lives with memory loss. She's found help and support in a place she didn't expect; her public library.
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"Holidays are hard," said Kathy Glaser, Waukesha County Aging and Disability Resource Center Dementia Care Specialist. "We have a lot of traditions and they often involve big groups of people and a lot of chaos and things happening at once,
Pauline Haass Public Library
Glaser says 1 in 9 people in Waukesha County older than age 65 live with memory loss.
"75% are living at home. They’re not in facilities," added Glaser.
That can be isolating for them and their caregivers. That's where ‘Memory Cafés’ can help.
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People spending time together, a big part of memory care.
"We find people are generally pretty comfortable coming to the library…this is a place people have come to for years and years," said Bridges Library System Inclusive Services Coordinator Angela Meyers, who coordinates the free program in Waukesha and Jefferson County public libraries.
Meyers says it's helped more than 260 people this year, a record. Each gathering is time out of the house for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Music can help too.
"I was talking to somebody a few weeks ago who said, ‘I couldn’t believe I knew all the words to those songs.’ If you asked me the words I wouldn’t know them but when I was singing I knew them and it felt great,'" said Glaser.
Bedford, who looks forward to making new memories, knows she's not alone. "Have a great time – we do something every single day!"
Waukesha County has dementia care specialists at these memory cafés.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the number of people living with Alzheimer's, the most common type of dementia, will double in just the next 40 years.
To learn more about the memory cafés, click here.