Holiday memory care for loved ones

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For those who have relatives with memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s, the holidays can be an especially difficult time.

At the Memory Café at Lisa Rice Library in Bowling Green, socialization is used as a means to help those experiencing memory loss to find a place to break out of isolation.

Jill Steffey, the owner and operator of Pieces of Hope, says that the holidays often begin requiring modification for relatives with memory disorders.

“A lot of people don’t understand, but the holidays are really hard because there’s so much stuff going on, there’s so much activity.
And for people with memory issues and or dementia or Parkinson’s or any of those kinds of things, keep it simple. Don’t do five things in one day,” Steffey said.

Emily Witthuhn, the community and outreach manager for Warren County Public Libraries at Lisa Rice who started the café, says that patience can really make the holidays easier when dealing with memory disorders.

“If you feel like a family member is starting to lose their memory, or maybe that’s something, you know, as a family and that’s been something you’ve been dealing with for a while. Don’t make it an argument. Don’t spend your time, you know, testing people or trying to convince them of things. Just, you know, if you’re approaching a person you haven’t seen for a while and you think they might not remember who you are, just introduce yourself,” Witthuhn said.

There is hope, many resources are available and people are there to help, Steffey said.

“Resources are here in Bowling Green, but trying to find them on your own while your caregiving is impossible. And I, I did it because I’m resourceful. That’s the way I am. But in my facility, I have an entire drawer in my file cabinet that all it is is resources. So if somebody needs home health, I can pull out six brochures and hand them to them and say, Go talk to so-and-so,” Steffey said.