By Katherine Beck – Waukesha County Freeman Staff | Feb 22, 2024

OCONOMOWOC — A diagnosis of dementia shouldn’t mean that the library has now become off-limits, said Jennie Fidler, Oconomowoc Public Library special services coordinator, who wants to make sure the library is accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

Fidler is continuously working to make sure that all people find what they need at the library, including those with dementia and their care partners. As a result, she has supplied the library with five Memory Care Kits that can be checked out for three weeks at a time, each one containing about eight activities, such as puzzles, books and games.

“Life really changes when they get that diagnosis, whether that deals with the stigma that goes with it, whatever the case … typical library services might be difficult for these families to obtain. It really depends, is this a good day, is this a bad day,” Fidler said.

Fidler said she learned about Memory Care Kits while attending a conference, which was after the Oconomowoc Public Library already had become part of the Library Memory Project and started to offer Memory Cafes for people with dementia and their families or caregivers.

The items selected for all of the Memory Care Kits are chosen with an adult who has dementia in mind. While a book that relies more heavily on pictures might be better suited to an adult with dementia than one that is text heavy, often picture books are geared toward kids. The same rings true with puzzles. Puzzles with fewer and larger pieces generally having cartoon or kid-centric images.

For some of the Memory Care Kit items, Fidler turned to a British company called Relish that creates products for adults with dementia in mind and even got input into their development from that group of people.

Since adding the Memory Care Kits to the library in January, Fidler said they have been well-received and knowledge of them has increased. She hopes that the collection may grow in the future.

“Dementia has so much stigma, it is just really important that we are educated on how to interact with people and how to care for our people in our community, whether they are diagnosed (with dementia) or not, to have that love and care for them,” she said.

The themes for the kits are: trains, birds, cats, dogs and gardening. They include a range of activities for different abilities as dementia progresses. Some fuel conversation while others are for maintaining fine motor skills. There are also items for addressing the need to fidget as some people feel a need to do with dementia. Each kit tends to contain two books, one that is more photo-based and the other that is more text-based.

The kits are available on a first-come, first-served basis and must be checked out and returned to the Oconomowoc library.

“These kits are important. … People living with dementia and their care partners and their families, still have every right to use the library, but given where they are at, it might be challenging to come in person and find something that fits them,” she said. “This is something that they can do together. It is a way to reach them at home.”

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