Coping with Memory Loss? Visit This Online Café

AARP Arizona is sponsoring monthly online Expresso Yourself Memory Cafés, hosted by Phoenix’s Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS), for caregivers and those dealing with memory loss.

Organizers say the workshops are designed for people with cognitive issues resulting from Alzheimer’s disease, early dementia or related disorders.

The interactive cafés will be livestreamed via Zoom from 10 to 11 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month. This spring they will be held on April 1, May 6 and June 3.

The April workshop will be led by music therapist Shana Bousard. She has more than three decades of experience in music and theater.

Because the event is on April Fools’ Day, participants are asked to share a joke.

The cafés are designed to stimulate participants’ minds and bodies by keeping them active. Many people, especially older adults, are coping with social isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, observed Kathy Rood, manager of Jewish Social Services at JFCS.

“Research shows staying socially engaged in enriching activities can be very therapeutic,” Rood said. The cafés are free and open to the public.

To register, visit aarp.org/nearme, contact Janet Rees at janet.rees@jfcsaz.org or call 480-599-7198.

—James E. Garcia