Atlas Coffee Mill 4/25/13 Memory Cafe

Hello Everyone!
Yesterday I attended the memory cafe at the Atlas Coffee Mill as part of our participant observation project. As usual the event was wonderful and now reflecting back on it the experience really showed  me how important this research is so we can have a better understanding of the dynamics of memory cafes and gain a better sense of what works and what people would like to see.
At this meeting we had some students who developed a type of memory game where they gave clues and everyone had to fill in the blank for a phrase or oldies tune. For example, "the _____ does not fall far from the tree" and then a picture of an apple was present. It was very fun and everyone seemed to enjoy guessing and singing along to the tunes in particular. We also had wonderful introduction and goodbye songs that John McFadden played I believe a ukulele to. What a great ice breaker that was! It was so fun to sing along!
As part of our observation task, I overheard a few comments on how some wished the cafes had more educational or informational components to them. One person had a suggestion of having a game/activity and then after an informational portion with tips to help with memory loss and the science behind it. I thought this was a wonderful idea and definitely something for us to talk about at our next meeting!


Heather