Marleen Dohmen is the new ‘bar owner’ of the Alzheimer café. (Photo: PR)
A new season for the Alzheimer café Leiden, Leiderdorp and Oegstgeest is starting again. Not only is there a new programme, there is also a new ‘pub owner’. Marleen Dohmen makes her debut in this role during the September edition with the theme ‘I have dementia. What now?’
The Alzheimer café has been a household name in Leiden and the surrounding area for over 25 years. The strength of the café lies in the cozy and informal atmosphere, while various themes are discussed around the subject of Alzheimer’s. Dohmen therefore expects that ‘pub management’ will become interesting, but also that it can be moving or difficult. “Of course you are dealing with a difficult subject.”
Dohmen, researcher at Leyden Academy on Vitality and Aging, was asked by current moderator Mandy Visser, with whom she conducts research at Topaz into the relationship and collaboration between healthcare professionals, informal carers and nursing home residents. Dohmen and Visser are now working together to organize the monthly Alzheimer’s café.
New audience
September 14 is the first night of the new season. On this evening, the theme on the agenda with which the Alzheimer café starts every season is: ‘I have dementia. What now?’ This evening will address all questions that people have who have just been diagnosed with dementia. Dohmen: “Then, of course, all sorts of things start happening in your head. And not only for the person with dementia, but also for their loved ones. There will also be a lot of changes for that.” Dohmen hopes to reach this new audience, which has only just heard the diagnosis, by distributing the annual programs to GPs.
The guest speaker of the evening is geriatric specialist Stefan de Vroome. He can explain well what happens if you have dementia and what care is appropriate and available. Dohmen does not expect this to be a very medical story: “It’s really about: I have dementia and what now? What should I do now? How will this continue? What kind of help can I get? How do I tell people around me? What will change for me?”
Intimacy and relationships
The different themes that are discussed at the Alzheimer’s café have been set for the entire season. Dohmen is looking forward to the theme of November 9 ‘Intimacy and relationships’. An important subject that also plays a major role in the research that Dohmen and Visser are conducting into mutual relationships in a nursing home. Dohmen: “The relationship between a resident and their loved one has of course changed enormously since the moment someone developed dementia.” During this meeting, this change in the relationship, love, sexuality and intimacy in dementia will be discussed.
A theme that is on the agenda for the first time this year is ‘Dementia in the family’. This evening is organized on December 14 and is about people who get dementia at a young age. They often have work and sometimes have children to take care of. Dohmen: “So that actually involves completely different challenges, questions and needs than at an older age. That is why we want to pay special attention to that.”
The Alzheimer café is organized monthly on a Thursday evening from 7.30 pm, in SBO de Vlieger, Boerhaavelaan 298 in Leiden. The Alzheimer’s Café program can be found at: www.alzheimer-nederland.nl/regios/zuid-holland-noord/alzheimer-cafe-leiden-leiderdorp-oegstgeest
Leiden Leiderdorp Oegstgeest
2023-08-21 09:50:21
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