The Memory Café sessions in Portugal are currently suspended to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Despite the demanding times we are all going through, Alzheimer Portugal has not lost the determination to continue to support people with dementia and their caregivers and family members, albeit at a distance. This is the reason why the organisation has implemented a new online format: “Memory Café stays at home”, in collaboration with the teams of the 20 Memory Cafés that exist in Portugal.
Every Saturday, at 11am, one of these teams coordinates an online session. These meetings have a maximum duration of one hour and have a guest speaker who addresses a specific topic related to dementia. Since these are normally face-to-face meetings, participants have the opportunity to ask questions in the informal and cheerful spirit that characterises Portugal’s memory cafés us. At the end of each session, participants are invited to evaluate the session by filling out an online form, before saying goodbye to everyone. With this new format, Alzheimer Portugal wants to contribute to reducing the social isolation we find ourselves in by sharing information, support and experiences. They also want to make the community more aware. To date, 9 sessions have taken place, the first of which was on 18 April. Nuno Antunes, a psychologist from Alzheimer Portugal, was the first guest speaker and he presented a set of tips to help people get through these trying times, at home.
Attendance has far exceeded initial expectations, with meetings attracting the maximum number of participants (100) that the online platform allows. This means there have been almost 1,000 participants already, a fact that highlights one of the positive aspects of this format – it reaches people who may not ordinarily be able to attend face-to-face sessions, due to not being geographically close to any Memory Cafés. Given the success of this online initiative, Alzheimer Portugal is thinking of extending it after the end of the current pandemic.
