Community Resource

Acting as a caregiver for an individual with dementia is a daunting task. Every day, you will experience challenges, most of which you’ve never faced before. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, especially if you don’t have people around you who truly understand the role you’re playing.

Memory Matters Utah/Nevada is an organization working to help those experiencing dementia, and their caregivers. Serving the communities of southern Utah and southeastern Nevada, this nonprofit strives to provide education and support.

Memory Matters Utah/Nevada is led by individuals with a true passion for helping those navigating the difficult path of dementia, and many of its staff members have acted as caregivers themselves.

Two People On A Beach Overlooking The Water

Services For Individuals With Dementia

Early Stage Memory Loss Series

The Early Stage Memory Loss Series is a 10-week course. It was created to serve as an educational resource for both those in the early stages of dementia as well as their primary care partner.

The series is offered twice a year, beginning in February and September. Each class covers topics such as financial preparation, stress management, and even brain training exercises.

A donation of $25 is suggested, but costs are covered for those unable to afford the series on their own. For a sample of past sessions, visit their website.

A Senior Person Holding A Colorful Stress Ball

Memory Activity Club

The Memory Activity Club is a group for those in moderate stages of dementia. Through meaningful activities related to topics such as art, music, and poetry, attendees strive to improve their cognitive abilities. These activities exercise the brain without feeling like work.

Apart from working on cognitive function, those with dementia also have the opportunity to build friendships with individuals who face the same challenges they do. Many caregivers have found their loved one to have a positive change in outlook and attitude from regular meeting attendance.

The Memory Activity Club doesn’t just benefit those with dementia, however. It also offers a reprieve to caregivers taking care of their loved one. Meetings are four hours long and include snacks, lunch, and activities. They’re held three days a week and cost $35 per class.

Services For Caregivers

Private Caregiver Consultations

Memory Matters Utah/Nevada offers two types of consultations: Memory testing consultations and care consultations.

Memory testing consultations offer clients a cognitive assessment. Once completed, the results can be used to talk with your loved one’s doctor.

Care consultations are open to both caregivers as well as other family members. Topics such as coping, strategies, and options for care may be discussed. The consultant can assist you in creating a care plan for your loved one, and they can also help you adjust this plan as the disease progresses.

Support Groups

A variety of support groups for caregivers are held in southern Utah and Nevada. Currently, support groups are active in St. George, Kanab, New Harmony, and Mesquite. These groups are held at various times and days of the week, and they repeat either weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

These groups are free and open to the public. View the support group calendar on their website.

Frontal-Temporal Dementia Support Group

In collaboration with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), Memory Matters Utah/Nevada holds a quarterly support group helpful for those caring for someone with frontal-temporal dementia. This group meets in the St. George area and is free to the public. It is facilitated by an individual with personal caretaking experience of a loved one with FTD.

Good Morning Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program

The Good Morning Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program gives caregivers who live alone extra peace of mind. For these individuals, they are their loved one’s sole lifeline. If something happens to them, the person they care for could be in danger.

The program connects caregivers to trained volunteers who call them each day at a convenient time. If the caregiver doesn’t answer or if there is an immediate need, their emergency contact will be sent to check on them.

Whether it’s the person experiencing the effects of dementia or the person taking care of them, all involved need educational and emotional support. Memory Matters Utah/Nevada is an excellent source of this support for those in southern Utah and southeast Nevada. For more organizations, you may find helpful, visit our community resources page.

Growing older can be a time of significant transition. A time that results in having to wade through unknown territory, some of which may relate to a change in your loved one’s living situation. The good news is that there are now organizations dedicated to helping this challenging time be, well, a little less challenging. One of these is the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM).

Who are senior move managers?

Senior Move Managers are professionals who assist in the downsizing or moving process for those who are elderly. They specialize in minimizing the moving trauma that plagues both those who are being moved and family members or loved ones involved in the moving process. In addition to addressing the emotional aspects of change, they also assist with the logistics.

When might you need a senior move manager?

There are many situations in which having a senior move manager can make a world of difference, and not all of them even involve changing homes. Just a few examples in which senior move management may be useful include:

Planning and coordinating a move to a smaller home or an assisted living facility. This includes hiring movers in addition to things like packing and unpacking boxes.
Downsizing possessions so a loved one can more easily move in with their family.
Evaluating and subsequently reducing home safety hazards.

Why are senior move managers important?

Just think about all the stress moving can bring when you’re young. Then consider how much more stressful this transition can be when the individual who’s moving has accumulated a lifetime of possessions, didn’t choose to move, or feels as though they’re losing their independence.

Relocation Stress Syndrome (RSS) is something that has been found to affect people of all ages as a result of a move, including the elderly. RSS can negatively affect those in all moving situations, whether they’re transitioning to an assisted living facility or just a smaller, more manageable home. Those who encounter RSS may experience symptoms such as exhaustion, anxiety, or depression.

Minimizing RSS can be accomplished by utilizing senior move managers with a background in the following:

Involving the senior in decisions that will affect where they live and the move to this new location.
Maintaining the senior’s daily routine as much as possible throughout the process.
Ensuring the senior is comfortable and safe in their new space.

Why not take on the work yourself?

You may be asking, why do I need to hire someone to take on these tasks? Why can’t I just do them myself?

Well, there are a few things that may hinder your ability to do so, both practically and emotionally:

Often, family members are geographically dispersed across the country or even across the world. It doesn’t necessarily make financial (or any other type of) sense to relocate to your elderly family member’s area to take care of the tasks associated with downsizing or with a move.
A lifetime of belongings is not easily sorted through. Older adults have often collected countless sentimental items throughout the years. Items that hold meaning to you as well. It can be helpful to have an unbiased individual assist your family member in sorting through cherished memories.
You may be an older adult yourself. If this is the case, you might not have the physical stamina needed to pack and unpack a houseful of belongings. Even if you’re a young spring chicken, you may not have the time or energy! Moving is difficult work.

An elderly woman looking out of a window

Why should you utilize the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM)?

The NASMM is a premier membership organization for senior move managers. Members must meet a strict set of requirements that ensure you don’t have to spend copious amounts of time filtering through potential candidates.

The NASMM is also an incredible knowledge base surrounding senior move management. They have resources such as a curated list of questions to ask when hiring a manager, a comprehensive guide to “rightsizing” and relocation, and a search tool you can use to find senior move managers in your area. To learn more about all things senior move management, visit their website.

For additional organizations, we think you may find helpful during this time of transition, visit our community resources page.