Memory minders

Dale program stimulates gray matter for sliver-haired seniors

By Bill Wolcott<br><a href="mailto:bill.wolcott@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Bill</a>

Betty “Penny” Moeller, 82, used to work at ... in Rockford, Ill. — She couldn’t remember the name of her employer.

“I can’t remember the name of the company. Isn’t that terrible?” she said. “My memory went and never came back. It’s not fun. What was the question?”

Then it came to her. Penny worked at the Sunstrand Corp. “It made tools, all kinds of tools,” she said. “I worked in the office and did a little of everything.”

Penny takes part in Memory Minders at the Dale Association. She moved to Lockport last year and about four months ago joined the group that meets from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Mondays and Fridays.

She is a typical participant, according to counselor Angie Blackley, the coordinator of the Memory Minders. The program got started in Lockport two years ago with the help of a grant from the Brookdale Foundation.

“There’s some that are little farther gone,” Blackley said. “We have some that repeat themselves, say the same things over and over. It’s the recent memory they don’t have. They can remember what they did 20 or 30 years ago, but what they did yesterday, they can’t remember as well.”

The program was developed by caregivers in 2002 for people with early memory loss and early signs of dementia.

“We’re not a nursing home. We’re not social adult day care,” Blackley said. “We’re just something for people that want to stimulate their memory. It just kind of gets them going. They might not remember half of the stuff they did in the class, but when they’re in the class, they have a very good rapport with each other.”

Penny got her nickname because of the color of her hair. Now it’s silver, but it was a red copper color when she was a child.

Her husband, Donald, died about three years ago and she moved to Middleport to live with her daughter and family.

The county shuttle brings her to the Dale Association, where she can meet classmates and take part in crafts, puzzles, games, movies, conversation, stories, homework discussion and lunch.

“I enjoy it,” Penny said. “I enjoy being with people.”

Penny, who had been involved in church activities in Illinois, was aware she was having memory problems. “I would go some place and somebody would ask me about it,” she said. “I would remember where I had been, but could not tell them about it. I would just say I had a good time. I couldn’t pinpoint it for them.”

Penny smiled when she said: “My memory went and never came back.” Keeping a sense of humor is important.

“Humor makes serious situations easier to deal with,” said Maureen Wendt of the Dale Association. “Individual dignity is No. 1. If they’re laughing, themselves, it’s funny. If people are laughing at them, it’s not funny anymore. Humor and fun is part of the socialization part of it.”

Memory Minders helps seniors with mild or moderate memory loss. It’s a social model that stimulates the cognitive ability of the brain. Memory loss can be caused by a variety of factors, including reactions to medicine, brain injury, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Memory Minders classes usually accommodate 10 to 12 people. The fee is $25 a day. There is open enrollment, and turnover is minimal.

Early intervention is recommended by the Dale Association, and usually a family member calls to get assistance or advice.

“Whether it’s memory loss or not, we all want to be independent. We all want to live life to our greatest potential,” Wendt said. “It provides stimulus to do that longer.”

Brookdale Foundation provided a $7,500 start-up grant. In the second year, Dale got $3,000.

There is informal screening. “You have to be a willing participant” Wendt said. “If mom doesn’t want to be there, it’s not going to work.”

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.

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