Dementia can cause confusion and discomfort for anyone experiencing or witnessing the condition, but a supportive community can help.
Minds in Motion, which begins on April 30th, is an 8-week program that can not only help promote mind wellness but also foster an environment of acceptance and positivity to build a supportive dementia community.
What is Minds in Motion?
According to the Minds in Motion website, the program functions as a meeting place that “provides physical activity, socialization, and mental stimulation” to people with early to moderate signs of dementia.
The program invites people who live with dementia and their friends and/or family to enjoy brain-healthy activities together.
“We’re focussed on fun,” says Rebecca Atkinson, who is with the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba. “We're focussed on hanging out, building relationships, and stimulating our mind and our physical self, so we exercise, we have coffee, we socialize, and then we play all sorts of ... games.”
A program for everyone
Atkinson says that in addition to benefitting people with dementia, the program can also be a boon to anyone in the community who needs or would like more information about the condition, including family members, friends, or healthcare workers.
She says that these groups have already shown great enthusiasm at previous Minds in Motions sessions.
“They're coming out. They've already taken that step,” she says. “This education is also for them to gain even more practical skills and to be the voice who asks a question with a little more experience and teaches the room. Everybody has something to offer.”
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For Atkinson, the program also presents an opportunity for friends of families with dementia to extend a helping hand.
“Say it's a husband who has dementia and a wife who's taking care of him. You can offer that as a gift to that wife and say, ‘You know what? Once a week, you get to sit and do whatever you want for these two hours. I'm taking your husband out and we're going to do this Minds in Motion together,’” she says.
Minds in Motion will take place at the Morden Activity Centre on April 30th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Anyone interested in registering is invited to call the Morden Activity Centre at 204-822-3555.
For more information about dementia, visit the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba’s website here.
With files from Ty Hildebrand