Memory Club: a group intervention for people with early-stage dementia and their care partners.
OBJECTIVE
Diagnosis of dementia in its early stages presents a window of opportunity for examining the immediate and long-term consequences of the illness at a point when the individual with memory loss can still participate in decision making.


METHODS
Memory Club is a 10-session group program designed to provide information about memory loss and resources for coping with it in an emotionally supportive atmosphere for people with dementia and their care partners. Memory Club sessions are structured so that dyads meet together, as well as separately with other care partners and people with dementia, respectively. This approach allows for time for the dyad to talk together about issues in a supportive setting, and for the people in the same role (person with dementia or the care partner) to share experiences with one another.


RESULTS
A preliminary evaluation indicated that people with dementia and their care partners rated Memory Club very positively.


CONCLUSIONS
Facing an inevitable decline, persons with early-stage dementia and their care partners found it helpful to talk with one another and with peers in the same circumstances about the disease and its effects.
Zarit
Steven H
SH
Gerontology Center, Penn State University, Henderson Building S-211, University Park, PA 16802, USA. z67@psu.edu
Femia
Elia E
EE
Watson
Jennifer
J
Rice-Oeschger
Laura
L
Kakos
Bernadette
B
D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012944:Social Support