WomenConnected grant supports dementia program

The Hispanic Health Resource Center (HHRC) at ProHealth was developed as a care model specializing in providing high-quality health education programming, advocacy services, community resources, and care management to uninsured and under-insured populations in Waukesha County.

Una Sonrisa y Un Café (a smile and a coffee) is the only Spanish memory café in the state.

Through the HHRC advisory committee, which is made up of a group of community advocates and influencers, we learned that Hispanic seniors with memory loss feel isolated. They’re more comfortable sharing their concerns in a space with professionals who represent their culture and speak Spanish.

Thanks to grants, including one from WomenConnected, the HHRC developed and implemented the only Spanish memory café in the state, Una Sonrisa y Un Café (a smile and a coffee).  The HHRC has partnered with a local Mexican restaurant, La Estacion, which offers the program space to conduct monthly memory café programs.

The program includes a bilingual nurse to help answer medical questions from caregivers and patients. It also includes a certified dementia specialist/community health worker (CHW) who organizes CDC and AA-approved crafts/activities. One of the project goals is to certify at least one bilingual restaurant and one grocery store as dementia friendly for Spanish speakers. To be certified, our dementia care specialist offers each business a 30-minute training on being dementia friendly with specific focus on Hispanics with memory loss.

The café supports patients and family members with socialization, building connections, doing activities outside the home, and keeping the brain healthy.

To measure the success of the program, a patient/family satisfaction survey is administered three times annually. The questions assess the initial factors for a caregiver to seek out our program, a mid-point and annual check-in to learn if there is a decrease in stress, frustration, etc., and an increase in accessing community resources to support their health care journey with their loved one diagnosed with memory loss.

“People who hear about the program are awed by it,” Saul said. “We let them know it’s important to ask your community what it needs — and to listen.”

Thanks to all WomenConnected members for supporting this important program in our community.

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