The Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St., is now offering two new programs for those affected by memory loss, including caregivers.
The Gathering Place is an expansion of the senior center’s monthly support groups for those living with Early Stage Memory Loss (ESML).
The Gathering Place, held from 1 – 4 p.m. every Thursday afternoon, provides stimulating activities and discussion in a small group format. Participants build on their strengths, by engaging in mental and physical activities, learning coping strategies while developing meaningful relationships.
Following well-established guidelines used in ESML programs across the nation, and facilitated by an MSW graduate, The Gathering Place incorporates problem solving and discussion, creative arts, exercise, intellectual stimulation, and refreshments. Throughout the day, participants may be found reading a play from the local Taproot Theatre, baking muffins, writing poetry, doing yoga, offering each other stress management tips, or playing games that encourage brain health.
Benefits from these kinds of programs include increased knowledge of how to cope with ESML, improved mood, enhanced social connections, and increased sense of structure and purpose.
The Gathering Place costs $35 per day. Scholarships are available.
The Alzheimer Café is a special opportunity for those living with Alzheimer’s to have a meal together once a month. It will be held once a month at Mae’s Phinney Ridge Café, 6412 Phinney Ave. N. This will be the second Alzheimer’s Café in the U.S.
Modeled after a movement in Europe of social gatherings for people with Alzheimer and their care partners, the Alzheimer Cafe provides an opportunity to get out and socialize in a safe environment. “Safe in the way that people can be themselves with no judgment and no expectations,” said Jytte Lokvig, who has created the first café in the US in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Our neighborhood café will have its first gathering on Tuesday, August 9 from 3:30 – 5 PM and Mae’s fabulous ice cream will make this first gathering an ice cream social.
To learn more about The Gathering Place or the Alzheimer Café, or to make a pre-registration appointment, call Greenwood Senior Center social worker Carin Mack, MSW, at (206) 297-0875 or (206) 230-0166.
