Via WDRN Network

(Virtual) Memory Cafes for All: How Thriving Cafes Are Creating Joy and Community Among People Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners

Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 4:00 PM ET

Link: https://www.asaging.org/web-seminars/virtual-memory-cafes-all-how-thriving-cafes-are-creating-joy-and-community-among

Memory cafes have spread worldwide as affordable, community-based responses to social isolation among people living with dementia and their care partners. They are part of a global dementia friendly community movement that aims for living well with dementia. Presenters will share best practices for starting and sustaining a cafe, and will discuss the benefits of cafe networks to foster the spread of cafes through resource sharing and mutual support. They will also report on the transition to virtual memory cafes during the COVID 19 quarantines that prevent group gatherings.

Participants in this web seminar will be able to:

• Participants will be able to identify the purpose and core components of a memory cafe, and gain a practical sense of the resources required to run one.

• Participants will able to identify the span of sectors and organizations that could launch and run a cafe, and will be able to draw upon examples of cafes serving various linguistic and cultural communities, rural areas and cities.

• Participants will be able to identify best practices, with a focus on inclusion, and common pitfalls to be avoided when running a cafe.

• Participants will know how to access publicly available toolkits and other resources to help them start and sustain their memory café.

• Participants will gain information about how some memory cafes are operating virtually during the time of COVID 19 quarantines.

Presenters

Susan McFadden is Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She co-founded Fox Valley Memory Project, a non-profit that offers memory cafés in 9 locations each month in northeast Wisconsin and provides memory café programming via Zoom during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Beth Soltzberg, LICSW, MBA, directs the Alzheimer’s/Related Disorders Family Support Program at Jewish Family & Children’s Service in Waltham, Massachusetts. Beth founded and coordinates the Percolator Memory Café Network, a resource for those starting and sustaining memory cafés across Massachusetts. Beth leads the Dementia Friends Massachusetts public awareness program, and is part of the statewide leadership team promoting dementia friendly community initiatives.

Kathleen O’Toole Smith

Senior Outreach Specialist

Wiscsonin Alzheimer’s Institute

School of Medicine and Public Health

University of Wisconsin-Madison

608-206-2378

mkotoole@wisc.edu