CJFS event to give peek into realities of dementia

When a loved one is diagnosed with or experiencing the symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, it can be difficult to grasp what they are going through. Collat Jewish Family Services, in partnership with Jefferson County Senior Services and the Levite Jewish Community Center, is hoping to change that.

This month, CJFS will host a Virtual Dementia Tour at the LJCC, a program which will give a peek into what it is like to have Alzheimer’s or dementia. 

“The reason that we decided to host the Virtual Dementia Tour and to offer it is because we have a respite program for families that are affected by Dementia and Parkinson’s,” said CJFS Development and Outreach Director Elaine Witt. “Our staff and volunteers saw that sometimes it is difficult for family members and volunteers and professionals to quite understand what individuals with dementia are going through.”

Pam Leonard, the program director for CJFS’s CARES (Caring for Adults through Respite, Enrichment and Socialization) program, said the specifics of the tour are kept under wraps until the day of the Virtual Dementia Tour. 

“They don’t necessarily give away all the secrets so that people won’t be prepared for what they’re walking into,” she said.

The Virtual Dementia Tour uses sensory tools and instruction to manipulate participants’ senses, thereby mimicking the effect of dementia, Leonard said. Participants may experience noise, disorienting tactile experiences or may be given instructions in an unusual way, and are then given tasks to complete.

“When I went through the experience, it was very eye opening to me, all the different ways that dementia can affect how you hear, how you process things, even how you can process a simple task when you’re given too much information all at once,” Leonard said. 

In the CARES program, Leonard said, volunteers and program participants form a community which individuals with dementia sometimes lack. People may distance themselves from a friend or loved one when they exhibit signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s, she added, because they do not understand the disease.

“They may not understand why they are acting differently,” Leonard said. “In our program, we have volunteers that come in and are trained to kind of understand how dementia works … and we’re finding that it kind of helps to blow that stigma [about dementia] our of the water.”

Since they started CARES, Leonard said she has seen the value of community and friendships in their participants. When they started the program, she said, she thought everything would be about the activities. That wasn’t the case.

“As people lose their ability to express and use language … just being in community with each other, sitting down for a meal, it encourages them to reach out to each other and connect,” she said.

By bringing this program to the LJCC, Leonard said she hopes that sense of community can grow, by creating more people who can connect with individuals with dementia. While it is important to understand what individuals are going through, Leonard said dementia’s reach is also increasing and the likelihood of knowing someone who is affected by the disease will grow. Volunteers can are able to develop empathy and interact bridge the gap between individuals with and without dementia.

“The hopes for the Virtual Dementia Tour is to do the same things,” Leonard said.

The Virtual Dementia Tour will be Nov. 2 and 3, and it is free and open to the public. To register, call 879-3438 or email Jennifer@cjfsbham.org.