Great Falls Public Library: a regional hub for Alzheimer's education

Between her full-time job as community engagement coordinator for the Great Falls Public Library and her volunteer role as chair of the Great Falls Area Community Foundation, Sarah Cawley has a full plate. But she has discovered a new passion – working with Montanans living with Alzheimer’s disease and their family caregivers. It has put her at the center of a growing community and given her an appreciation for the challenges too many families face alone.

When Cawley joined the Great Falls Public Library 16 months ago, she had no knowledge of or family experience with Alzheimer’s disease. But she inherited a Memory Café, recently started by the Montana State University Extension in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association of Montana. Little did she know that this one small program would change how she engages with the Great Falls community.

“When I started, I knew nothing about Alzheimer’s or memory loss or where to go for help. I knew that my job was to connect people and knowledge in whatever ways the community needed,” Cawley said. "I did not anticipate that I would become so attached to these amazing people and so driven to help them find a connection while going through this. Now, people come into the library and I’m the person they come to for help.”

There are 21,000 Montanans among more than seven million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, the seventh-leading cause of death and the only leading disease without a prevention or cure. The Memory Café program enables people living with the disease, and their family caregivers, to stay physically and mentally engaged, and encourages them to remain active with other families that can understand and relate to the challenges they face.

The monthly Memory Café group, which currently has between a dozen and 15 participants, has developed a loyal following. They usually open with 30 to 45 minutes of conversation, which can run the gamut from favorite memories to gardening to motorcycle rides. And then they progress into an activity. In January, it was music and movement – “a lot of twisting and shouting…and so much laughter.” In February, the group will visit the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art.

“Everybody participates,” said Cawley. “The conversation is extensive, and we encourage people to participate as much as they can or as much as they’re willing to. I want them to never feel alone.”
The Memory Café has filled a need for the participants, who sometimes struggle to find activities that their loved one living with Alzheimer's will participate in. 

“Caregivers often say that the person they’re caring for would prefer to be isolated,” said Cawley. “After coming to the Memory Café, people talk with one another even outside the group. We recently had a caregiver of a person who had passed away come to the group to express their appreciation for the program and the people that they looked forward to seeing every month.”

The Memory Café meets monthly on the first Tuesday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the basement of the library. While attendance is growing by word of mouth, drawing people from the smaller towns around Great Falls, Cawley notes that there is still room for more families.

“Sarah has done an amazing job of connecting with these families and making them feel both welcome and engaged,” said Melanie Williams, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Montana. “The signs of this disease bring fear, and a diagnosis can be terrifying, but the Memory Café is a comforting place where families can feel welcome by others who ‘get it.’”

To learn more about the Memory Café at the Great Falls library, go to Memory Café – GFPL or contact Sarah Cawley at scawley@greatfallslibrary.org. 

To learn more about the information, programs and services provided at no charge by the Alzheimer's Association of Montana, go to alz.org, or call the Association’s free Helpline, staffed 24/7 by trained professionals, at 800-272-3900.