Memory Cafe supports dementia patients and their caregivers

Wednesday afternoons are Marion Wahl’s me-time.

At a table in the secluded courtyard of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health near downtown Las Vegas, Wahl, 81, might catch a 90-minute nap. Maybe she’ll read the Bible. Sometimes, she just spends a moment alone with her grown daughter.

She can relax, because just a few feet away under the supervision of clinic volunteers and trained therapists, her husband of 59 years, Dick Wahl, 85, is singing the “Ghostbusters” theme song, doing the chicken dance and dreaming up fairy tales.

“It’s a win-win for him to be here,” said Wahl, who became Dick’s caregiver after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease four years ago. “It helps to break his day of doing things we have him do.”

For the past year, Dick has been a regular at the center’s Memory Cafe, a 2-year-old art and music therapy program for people with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and other dementia.

Evidence-based storytelling

Recently, the Lou Ruvo Center partnered with The Smith Center to fund a year of TimeSlips therapy, an evidence-based method that trains program leaders online to use storytelling to engage those with dementia in memory-building activities. The therapy was developed in the late ’90s.

“It has a heavy emphasis on imagination,” said Melanie Jupp, senior program manager with The Smith Center’s education and outreach department.

Here’s how it works: A program leader — in this case Jay Nagle, a longtime theater professional with The Smith Center — asks a crowd of 30 or so participants and volunteers to describe an image projected on the screen. They share out loud, like a classroom of students, and a volunteer writes down the answers.

Next week, they’ll return to the story before creating a new one.

“It’s very much rooted in recall,” said Jupp, explaining the program’s benefits.

The program allows those who might not enjoy art or music to work on their participation and collaboration skills, said Dr. Dylan Wint, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Lou Ruvo Center.

“Not all people respond to and enjoy the same activities. TimeSlips is just another means of expression,” he said.

Respite for caregivers

On a recent Wednesday, the classroom reverberated with the sound of rhythm sticks clinking to the beat of “Ghostbusters.” Depending on ability, some participants smiled and sang along. One woman showed off her dance moves.

Others sat quietly and enjoyed the tune.

Anecdotally, Wint sees improved communication among patients who participate in the program. He said those who may become apathetic regain their desire to engage with others through the social interaction.

But he’s more focused on the benefits for caregivers who, through the program, can enjoy 90 minutes to themselves each Wednesday. Some run errands, take a break or go to a support group, which runs concurrently at the Lou Ruvo Center.

“When any of us goes to look for a job, we look at what the hours are, and we know that if someone offered us a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job, we’d probably turn it down,” Wint said. “These caregivers have been quote-unquote ‘hired’ for a job they did not seek, and they hardly get any rest.”

Memory Cafe, for them, offers respite.

“If something goes wrong with them, if their health fails, then the person they’re paying so much attention to isn’t taken care of,” Wint said.

Marion Wahl finds support in her daughter and son-in-law, who took Marion and Dick into their home and help with the cooking, cleaning and bills.

That gives her the freedom to enjoy time with her husband and relish the memories he still has, Wahl said.

“I see that his whole demeanor has picked up. He’s just happier, friendlier,” she said. “All I have to do is have fun and be with him.”

How to sign up

Patients and their caregivers interested in Memory Cafe don’t have to be Lou Ruvo Center patients; the program is open to the public.

For more information or to RSVP for a Memory Cafe session, call 702.778.6702 or email LouRuvoSocialServ@ccf.org.

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.