As someone who has been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s, Barbara Bertacini said she and her husband of 35 years, Ron Bertacini, are very glad to have found a new support community through a memory cafe.
“It’s very helpful,” Bertacini said. “Hearing other people, you know, when they talk about their issues or their problems, concerns, it’s very, this is very helpful.”
Bertacini noted that it can be a tender topic to talk about her condition, which she was officially diagnosed with late last year.
“I try not to get too emotional,” she said. “But I think that the more I know about it, the more I understand.”
Memory cafes have been growing in popularity across the country as gatherings to aid informationally and with social support for not only those with conditions but also for their primary carers to attend.
Something of great importance said Cynthia Driver, director of partnerships with Eskaton, a nonprofit senior living provider that hosts the memory cafe Bertacini attends in Roseville.
“I have a big passion for family caregivers and being a caregiver myself for many years and then working in the home care field,” Driver said. “I saw a need for family caregivers to have more support.”
More than 6 million Americans live with dementia, and National Institutes of Health researchers estimate that over 42% of those over 55 will eventually develop it.
A study by the Alzheimer’s Association also found that older adults who socialize have a nearly 40% lower risk of dementia.
Aging services face staff and facility shortages, a challenge because of the $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, according to Leading Age, which represents aging service providers nationwide. Mollie Gurian is the VP of Policy and Governmental Affairs.