Gardenview Assisted Living & Memory Care in Calumet hosts monthly meetings for its P.E.A.C.E. (Providing Empathy Awareness Comfort Education) Dementia Support Group.

According to Gardenview Director of Sales and Marketing Trevor Corey, the group stems from the facility’s goal to provide comfort to the residents and peace to their families.

“It started out as a resource for people to turn to when they’re dealing with those stresses, and as it went on, we had doctors come in to present,” said Corey. “It’s really not about Gardenview anymore. It’s about helping everyone around us.”

The group welcomes family members and caregivers of people with dementia to become educated about dementia and learn tools to care for family members who might have it.

“If people have concerns or situations they’re in then we can discuss that and try to come up with a solution or even support at the least,” said Corey.

Corey has had his own personal experience with a family member who had dementia and he feels the group has helped him learn a lot about himself.

“When I hear these families stories I really empathize with them because I’ve been through it myself,” he said. “I may not feel what they’re going through but I’ve seen it myself.”

The group size varies, from a couple of people to ten. There are often speakers or presentations from different specialists.

During the March meeting, the group welcomed Jake Bilodeau, the director of the Alzheimer’s Association of the Upper Peninsula, which is located in Marquette.

Bilodeau went over ways to identify the different types and stages of dementia, which he defined as “a loss of cognitive function serious enough to interfere with daily function,” separate from normal memory loss.

“It’s important that first, we understand what dementia is, then once we get that framework we can talk about how we can interact with the people that we love through the different stages of the disease,” said Bilodeau.

The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s was the main focus of the presentation. It affects over five million Americans.

Bilodeau talked about his own experience having a grandpa who with Alzheimer’s and how the disease affected his family.

Group members told stories about their family members, some who were residents of the facility and many in different stages. Some living on their own and some who could not talk.

Bilodeau also discussed ways to approach people with dementia, ways to stimulate their brains and not offend or make things worse.

Bilodeau made sure to stress the fact that Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia affects every person differently.

“The disease manifests itself completely different in every single person so just because someone has a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia doesn’t mean that you immediately need to start planning for end of life,” he said.