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Memory cafes have been popping up in rural communities in the South Okanagan this year and are drawing in hundreds of participants.

Not only are the cafes fun events with food, live music and workshops, they're bringing communities together to improve the lives for those living with cognitive declines and dementia.

“Our population is aging and our lack of addressing this and being ready for it shows our core values as Canadians toward aging,” said program coordinator for the BC Dementia Friendly Community initiative, Keremeos resident, Barb Stewart.

“I like action and boots on the ground, doing something about it. There just hasn’t been enough people getting onboard with dementia-friendly community plans. Dementia is still very isolating and caregivers crash from exhaustion and depression.”

Dementia is a term for several diseases that affect memory, thinking and the ability for a person to perform daily activities. Mainly impacting older people, there is no cure for the progressive disease, according to the World Health Organization.

As of January, the Alzheimer Society of Canada predicted more than 733,000 people in the country are living with the disease with 350 new cases developing every day.

Memory cafes are social experiments aimed at building more dementia-friendly communities by bringing all sectors together including businesses, families and caregivers.

“We’re very arts and recreation-based and the business, faith-based, not-for-profit, education and health sectors are all coming out,” Stewart said. 

Memory cafes are part of a research pilot being carried out throughout the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen in collaboration with UBC Okanagan’s Rural Health Equity.

It’s a passion project for Stewart, who watched her late dad’s decline with Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia.

“My dad’s dementia journey was not typical,” she said. “He had a big family, a ton of support and inclusion. Being the program coordinator for this study quickly made me realize it isn’t that way for most people.”

Stewart’s dad, a farmer, was 62 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“One time he went to the gas station, he never went to the gas station, we had a tank on the farm,” she said. “He filled his tank and the woman there told him the cost of it and he offered her a twenty-dollar bill, telling her very sweetly that he’d pay for her gas. She called the cops on him and that was the worst day for my mom, she was devastated the RCMP had to bring him home.”

Incidents like these inspire Stewart to raise awareness in communities of members with dementia and find better solutions.

“Instead of calling the cops, maybe people can pause and realize something isn’t quite right and question it,” she said.

Stewart is the program coordinator at Medical Arts Health Research Group in Penticton that has done clinical trials to find a cure for dementia and does early memory testing under the guidance of CEO Dr. Donna Benson.

“She has seen a lot of cognitive decline in her work that prompted her to use this participatory action research methodology to explore supports for people in that state,” Stewart said. “It’s a methodology where you conduct social experiences, you pose solutions to complex societal problems and experiment, in this case it’s about building dementia friendly communities.”

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Stewart said there are resources available for residents and municipalities on building dementia-friendly communities but they tend to sit on shelves and collect dust.

She said a keen dementia researcher in Naramata, Dr. Howard Feldman, wrote a paper in 2017 called the Canadian Dementia Challenge, that along with Dr. Benson’s clinical experience and failed trials to find a cure, helped spark the movement to do more.

Stewart teamed up with UBCO’s Rural Health Equity department and took a few years meeting up with non-profits in the area to explore ideas before piloting the memory cafes in early 2023. 

“Non-profit societies said, 'try this approach and open it up to the whole family and community' and lo and behold, this is what’s been working and bringing the people together," she said.

According to Stewart’s findings, rural communities want more holistic approaches of care for early cognitive decline and dementia, a reduction in stigma of the condition, and more community supports for caregivers.

“They want arts and recreation, they want it to be fun and uplifting and focussed on wellness,” she said. “They want to share their stories because they know that stories build empathy. They know the brain research is ongoing but what’s needed now is empathy and understanding.”

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The initiative has seen roughly eight cafes pop up in South Okanagan communities including Keremeos, Cawston, Oliver and Osoyoos.

After four years into the project, and almost a year into coordinating memory cafes, Stewart has learned a lot about what rural communities need.

The favourite part of the cafes for those in attendance is storytelling.

“It seems the story sharing is the key,” Stewart said. “Last café we had seven different workshops but the feedback said we missed the storytelling, people want that, a story teller with lived experience.

“That’s a hard thing to ask of someone in the early stages of dementia, there is often denial and fear, they may be confused and angry. 

“When my dad was diagnosed if someone had come to mom and I in the first eight years, we were too overwhelmed, we would’ve shown them the door. We were struggling to figure out what to do.”

Stewart has gained life lessons through working with communities. 

“Slow down is a repeated message, and how to be present in the moment,” she said. “One of my big teachings that dementia gave me with my dad was to be more present in the moment. By the end of his journey I wasn’t thinking about the thousands of things I had to do, and it was a gift he gave me on how to live life better.”

READ MORE: Vernon woman finds new life and love after dementia diagnosis

There are plans to do a total of 20 cafes, with a longer goal of expanding further in the province, including Kamloops. Looking at cultural and generational perspectives is ongoing.

The next memory cafe is at the Princeton Seniors Centre from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 28.

For more information on the project, email barbjstewart21@hotmail.com. 

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