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<strong>June</strong> <strong>2019</strong> <strong>Ashland</strong> Local Town Pages www.localtownpages.com Page 5<br />
From Books to a Café, <strong>Ashland</strong> Offers Support for<br />
Those Suffering with Dementia<br />
By Cynthia Whitty<br />
<strong>Ashland</strong> has become dementia<br />
friendly, thanks to the efforts<br />
of Senate President Karen<br />
Spilka, grants from BayPath<br />
Elder Services, and the work of<br />
dedicated town staff and volunteers.<br />
The initiative, <strong>Ashland</strong> is<br />
Dementia Friendly, ensures that<br />
the community is equipped to<br />
support people living with dementia<br />
and their caregivers.<br />
The grants have enabled the<br />
<strong>Ashland</strong> Senior Center to offer<br />
support in a variety of ways.<br />
The Senior Center has purchased<br />
books and DVDs that<br />
educate and support those with<br />
memory loss and their caregivers.<br />
The items are housed in the<br />
<strong>Ashland</strong> Library for public use.<br />
The books include “On Pluto:<br />
Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s”<br />
by Greg O’Brien; “Learning to<br />
Speak Alzheimer’s: A Groundbreaking<br />
Approach for Everyone<br />
Dealing with the Disease”<br />
by Robert N. Butler, M.D.; and<br />
“When Reasoning No Longer<br />
Works: A Practical Guide for<br />
Caregivers Dealing with Dementia<br />
and Alzheimer’s Care”<br />
by Angel Smits.<br />
The Senior Center offers<br />
Caregiving Support Groups, facilitated<br />
by assistant director of<br />
human service, Cara Tirrell, on<br />
the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday of the<br />
month at 1 p.m. The meetings<br />
are open to caregivers of all diagnoses<br />
and provides support,<br />
education and occasional speakers<br />
on the stresses of caregiving.<br />
As part of the Dementia<br />
Friendly initiative, the Senior<br />
Center has created a monthly<br />
Electronic cats are soothing for people in the middle and later stages<br />
of Alzheimer’s disease. (Photo/courtesy <strong>Ashland</strong> Senior Center)<br />
memory café, the Clocktown<br />
Café, at The Bagel Table, 21<br />
Main St. The café provides a social<br />
gathering place for persons<br />
with memory loss, mild cognitive<br />
impairment, early Alzheimer’s,<br />
or other dementia and<br />
their family and friends (limited<br />
to a designated attendee and<br />
two guests).<br />
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every month, the café offers a<br />
program or activity that’s stimulating<br />
and fun. “We will have<br />
entertainment, refreshments<br />
provided by The Bagel Table<br />
and social interaction and support,<br />
even therapy dog visits,”<br />
Tirrell said.<br />
The Senior Center has introduced<br />
therapy pets, both<br />
electronic and real, to its guests.<br />
$299<br />
15 Yard Dumpster<br />
Not to be combined with any other offer<br />
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Davis Bates—Generations of Fun, a song and story Clocktown Café<br />
program, is set for <strong>June</strong> 26. (Photo/courtesy <strong>Ashland</strong> Senior Center)<br />
Matt Gamache<br />
Realtor<br />
Serving <strong>Ashland</strong> for over 10 years<br />
Special guest volunteer Janet<br />
Gamache of Happy Tails Dog<br />
Services visits with her therapy<br />
dog Lydia, and at other times,<br />
the Senior Center has used<br />
electronic companion cats that<br />
are designed to bring comfort,<br />
companionship and fun to people<br />
with dementia. The cats are<br />
calming and soothing and have<br />
realistic fur and pet-like sounds<br />
and sensors that respond to petting<br />
and hugs with familiar petlike<br />
actions. They have a positive<br />
effect on women and men in the<br />
middle and later stages of Alzheimer’s<br />
disease.<br />
Anyone interested in attending<br />
the Clocktown Café should<br />
RSVP by calling 508-532-7946.<br />
To learn more about dementia<br />
friendly trainings and other<br />
resources, call Candi Wilson or<br />
Kim Kotob at the <strong>Ashland</strong> Senior<br />
Center, 508-881-0140 x1.<br />
Please Visit Our Website to Read Online<br />
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