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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.874
igaa057.874
Abstracts
Session 2927 (Poster)
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment I
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Exploring the Experiences of Persons Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners in a Memory Café-Style Program
Bunting Morgan 1 Antonsdottir Inga 2 Bailey Marti 3 Samus Quincy 2 1 
Johns Hopkins University, Halethorpe, Maryland, United States
2 
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
3 
Club Memory, Washington, D.C., United States

2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”273 273
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Community-based supportive care interventions are needed to address unmet needs and maximize quality of life for persons living with dementias and their care partners (care dyad). Memory cafés and similar programs serve as a potentially important vehicle to reduce dementia stigmatization, improve inclusiveness, promote well-being, socialization and meaningful activity engagement, and disseminate dementia-related education and knowledge. Despite gaining popularity, little is known about how these programs impact participants or how they work best. The Club Memory® program in Washington, D.C. is an enhanced memory café-style program that delivers a normalizing environment, decreased negative stigma and a chance to experience a catalyst for change despite disease progression. Using qualitative methods, we investigated the perceived impact, benefits, and weaknesses of Club Memory from multi-stakeholder perspective, to explore how this program might be improved and standardized for broader implementation. We conducted two focus groups, one of care partners and one of persons living with dementia (N=12). Upon analyzing transcriptions, five common themes emerged among the focus groups: Atmosphere, Sense of Community, Skill-Building, Tools and Strength in Staff. Integrating perspectives from the care dyad revealed congruent thoughts on program perception, benefits and strengths, and opportunities for improvement. Club Memory® appears to be a valuable model that creates a stigma-free supportive environment, educates and engages the care dyad to foster understanding, confidence, curiosity and empowerment. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the impact community-based strategies can positively impact the care dyad’s life.