New Hampshire Telephone Museum Alzheimer’s Cafe In Honor and Memory of Alice B. Violette and Phyllis B. Hoar “By choosing to call it the Alzheimer’s Cafe, we’re determined to counter the stigma and misconceptions about these diseases. In spite of the name, “Alzheimer’s Cafe”, we leave the disease at the door and celebrate the person beyond the dementia. The cafe is a chance for everyone to step out of their daily roles and share a positive experience in a supportive environment.” –Dr. Jytte Lokvig

What is it? Alzheimer’s Cafes are designed for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Each cafe provides a safe and relaxed place where people with dementia, their families, and friends can gather for a unique blend of socializing, education and support.

The first Alzheimer’s Cafe was started in 1997 by Dr. Bere Meisen, a psychologist at the research center for old age psychiatry in the Netherlands after noticing that talking about the illness, even within families, was often taboo.

The first Memory Cafe (European model) in the U.S. opened in Colorado in 2005. The first Alzheimer’s Cafe (American model) opened in New Mexico in 2008. The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire established the first East Coast Alzheimer’s Cafe in 2011. There are now about a dozen cafes in New Hampshire; the closest one to Warner is in Concord.

The European Model typically includes lectures, presentations, and information combined with a social hour. The American Model is purely a social event providing everyone involved a brief respite from issues related to Alzheimer’s.

Details: The Alzheimer’s Cafe will be held in our downstairs meeting room (The Cloues Room) from 9 to 11 AM on the second Thursday of every month. Volunteers and staff will greet the guests and invite them to mill about the museum and socialize with one another. This will be followed by refreshments and some sort of activity and will end with more time for socializing.

Schedule: The following schedule will be followed: 9 to 9:30 AM arrival and museum visit 9:30 to 10:30 AM.

Refreshments and activities 10:30 to 11 AM.

Social time: The Cafe is for at home care providers and their loved ones. Nursing home groups are invited to visit the museum during our regular business hours. A core piece of the Cafe concept is to provide the home care provider with respite from the day-to-day challenges associated with caring for someone with Alzheimer’s.