This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
As the Baby Boomers, the largest generation in America until the Millennials came along, age, the number of American adults struggling with memory issues increases. Researchers and medical doctors are striving to meet the needs of middle aged and senior adults dealing with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, but they are also recognizing the dramatic and harmful effects these issues have on those family members caring for the memory loss patients. These caregivers are often discouraged, depressed, exhausted, and isolated.
In an effort to support local caregivers, the Library has created three new Well-being Bags as part of its Experience Bag collection. The bags, "Memory Minder Kits for Caregivers of Those with Memory Loss," provide caregivers with information about successful caregiving, local resources that provide support, and games and activities that the caregivers can do with the memory loss patients in their care. The three bags are loosely designed around the three stages of memory loss illnesses - the Early Stage or high activity level, the Middle Stage or moderate activity level, and the Late Stage or low activity level - and they contain books, CDs, a DVD, activities, a puzzle, and resource information.
These new bags join the popular Experience Bag collection, which currently includes 13 Experience Bags devoted to popular movies, television series, and subjects like chocolate, dogs, and cats. The collection also includes 11 Destination Bags that allow users to travel to exotic locations around the world without leaving their living rooms. The new bags join the two existing Well-being Bags that focus on mental health. In the future, the Library hopes to add more Well-being Bags to the collection, on topics ranging from beginner meditation to urban farmsteading. The Experience Bag collection can be found on the Library's first floor, between the stairs and the elevator.
