PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Gary Spriggs's wife, Gayle, was diagnosed with dementia earlier this year. He’s still learning how to care for her.
“There’s no instruction manual,” said Gary.
That’s why he told ABC Action News that he’s grateful for BayCare’s new program that’s creating dementia and Alzheimer-friendly dining options in local restaurants.
“It allows us to get out and do things without hiding,” said Gary.
Each year, more people are being diagnosed with memory disorders.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, there are more than six million Americans living with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia.
“Right now, just the known statistics for Alzheimer’s Disease in the state of Florida is 640,000. And that’s just Alzheimer’s Disease. There’s close to 200 different types of dementia that we’re aware of,” said Celisa Bonner, licensed clinical social worker and clinic coordinator for BayCare.
According to BayCare, in Pinellas County alone, there are more than 34,000 known cases of Alzheimer’s Disease.
“There is sympathy in numbers, so I’m not alone. I know that,” said Gary.
With memory disorders so prevalent in our community, that’s one of the reasons why BayCare recently launched its "dementia-friendly dining" program, where memory disorder teams work with Tampa Bay restaurants to train their staff on how to take care of customers dealing with memory issues and educating them on how these diseases affect people.
“The big way that it affects people is through communication. A lot of times, communication is going to be: can they still read a menu? Can they still understand what words are when you speak to them? How are they going to respond to you?” said Bonner.
“Mostly, the training was all about compassion. You know, understanding that they’re not thinking clearly, that they might think they want something but it’s not what they want, they want something different so just can’t get angry. You can’t get upset. You just have to understand them and show that you still care,” said John O’Brien, manager for O’Keefe’s Tavern.
“People just don’t understand Alzheimer’s Disease. Everyone changes with the disease, and they’re not the same, and people don’t know how to interact with them,” said Bonner. "Therefore, their support system gets smaller, and the caregiver is too embarrassed to maybe take them out to eat."
“So if restaurants are willing to embrace them in their disease process just to adapt what they do so the dining experience can still be successful, that’s a win for the restaurant and the community and the person living with the disease,” she added.
So far, BayCare’s teams have trained staff at these restaurants:
- Sonny’s Barbecue in Palm Harbor
- Cali in St. Petersburg
- Sweet Sage Cafe in Indian Rocks
- O’Keefe’s Tavern in Clearwater
O’Keefe’s was the first restaurant in the area to participate in this program.
“The training is kind of eye-opening,” said O’Brien.
For O’Brien, who manages O’Keefe’s, this is personal.
“My mother had dementia, my grandmother had dementia. So my grandmother lived here, we tried to go someplace to eat, and it would be difficult. My mother was the same way,” said O’Brien.
That’s something they’re now fighting to change, with staff trained to focus on compassion and dignity. The goal is to reduce the feeling of isolation and allow people battling memory disorders and their caregivers to feel a sense of normalcy.
"They know that they can always come to O’Keefe’s, and they’re going to be embraced. They’re not going to be judged. They’re just going to be welcomed. They’re just going to meet them where they are,” said Bonner.
“This is home. This is home,” said Gary.
BayCare hopes to expand to more restaurants across Tampa Bay.
For more details, visit Morton Plant Hospital’s Madonna Ptak Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Loss website.
