What is a Dementia Friendly Library?

An important part of a dementia friendly community

A Dementia Friendly Library in Wisconsin

Journalist Sara Tischauser interviewed Ellsworth Public Library Director Tiffany Meyer about a new program to help carers and friends spend quality time loved ones with dementia. The results of that interview appeared in a recent Pierce County Herald (March 14, 2018).

Tiffany Meyer, Ellsworth Public Library director, said the library now has eight caregiver kits that can be checked out for three weeks for anyone who is interested. The kits contain a variety of activities and items to help a person interact with someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Sara Tischauser / RiverTown Multimedia

With funding from the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Pierce County the Wisconsin library created kits designed specifically to aid in the caring process. Meyer explained the reasoning behind the program:

“One struggle with dementia can be for friends and family members to figure out how to continue having meaningful interactions with a loved one who is experiencing dementia. The kits were designed with caregivers in mind, they have also been used successfully by folks going to visit a friend or family member with dementia.”

Caregiver Kits Useful

The program is in its early stages, but patrons are already finding the caregiver kits useful. From the Herald article:

“We started checking out the caregiver kits for our grandparents, George and Elva Boyd, who live just outside of Ellsworth and no longer drive,” (library patron Kristina) Larson said. “The activities are perfect for them, and my kids love to join in on them too. We checked out the dog-themed one for our first kit and were impressed by how engaging and high-quality the materials were.”

Patrons check out the themed caregiver kits in the same way one would check out a book or any other material from the library. Each kit contains a number of activities selected specifically for adults with dementia, memory disorders, or other cognitive issues.

“Many of the items in the kits were purchased from Best Alzheimer’s Products’ website,” Meyer said. “These kits have the potential to help many people.”

According to national figures, the prevalence of dementia in adults (over 18 years) in the US is somewhat more than 2%. This makes it easy to approximate how many of your potential patrons have dementia.

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